Rise of the Fox
by Just The FNG
Summary: A young boy is found by Kurenai while he is being harassed by Guards. She takes it on herself to feed him and to let him live with her. Join Naruto as he learns the ways of the ninja and what he must do to keep his loved ones safe. AU! Rated M For future violence, lemons, and anything else that will probably get me banned, but seriously, this site is supposed to let us unleash...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Well I'm alive! Yes I'm alive, I'm writing again and I'm doing my best to improve my chapters. You might not notice it at first, but I'm changing things up a little. Don't ask me why, I just figured it needed to be done. I read my story a few times while at my fiancé's therapy and I realized that a lot of my story makes little to no sense. For that I apologize.**

**So what I'm going to do now, is go through each and every chapter, fix them up and possibly completely rewrite some chapters!**

**This may seem like a surprise to you guys, but it' what I'm going to do, I'll do my best to post each chapter as soon as possible. Just bear with me please.**

Disclamer: If i owned Naruto, would i really be a guy that be sitting here right now telling you i dont own Naruto? No i would be screaming to everyone i knew that i own it...but sadly i dont =(

* * *

**Chapter One**

The Fox Breaks the Ice

The sun was shining down on the couple as they walked through the forest surrounding Konoha; It was a wonderful day and they had decided to go for a picnic to celebrate their one year anniversary. The young man smiled as he listened to the woman talk, he loved how her voice sounded. Shifting the basket from one hand to the other, he continued to listen, using his now free hand to check that the package in his pocket was safe and sound. It wouldn't do to lose it, especially today.

"Do you need help Ryu?" The woman asked "I feel bad making you carry everything…"

Scared that she might have seen him checking his pocket he waved his free hand dismissively, smiling nervously.

"No, no, thank you though, Akiko, this is heavy though and I wouldn't want you to have to carry this burden."

"So…you're saying that I wouldn't be able to carry it?"

"No, I'm not saying that at all my beautiful flower. I was simply stating that a pretty woman such as you should make the food, and the man should carry it when the couple goes on a picnic."

"…So, you're saying that a woman belongs in the kitchen?..."

Cursing himself and realizing that he was sinking fast, he noticed that they had arrived at their clearing.

_Thank god…_

"Oh look! We're here Akiko, time to eat." He turned to her, smiling nervously.

Getting onto his knees, Ryu unrolled the blanket and began to place the cups and plates, making sure that everything was perfect. The woman watched as he laid everything out carefully, and knew something was wrong. Ryu had never been one to be careful, especially when it came to food. Usually the food was gone before she even had a chance to get any…

Sighing, Akiko pinched the bridge of her nose lightly and closed her eyes. "Alright Ryu…What did you do?"

Stopping with his hand half in the basket he looked over to her and smiled, sweating bullets.

"W-why whatever do you mean?"

"Why are you being so careful with the plates and food? And why are you acting so nervous?"

"Ahehe, well I just want to make sure everything goes well, it _is_ our anniversary you know." He chuckled nervously as he sat down, hand darting to his side pocket.

Pouting the girl walked over to him and sat in front of him, leaning back against him. "Fine! You're lucky you're cute…"

"Not as cute as you my princess." He managed to say, wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer.

Giggling slightly at being called such a thing, Akiko reached for the basket to grab one of the bento boxes they had made in the morning, only to be stopped by a strange feeling on her back. Ryu's breathing had begun to quicken.

"Ryu?" She turned towards her and saw the nervous expression on his face. Her eyes followed his hand as it went to his pocket and they widened when it pulled out a small box. It was a simple box, purple with a gold trim, but it was what the box symbolized, she now understood what this whole thing was about.

Ryu was never one to wake up early, yet today he had woken up even before her! She nearly fainted when she walked into the kitchen to see him cooking. It made sense to her now though. He wanted today to be perfect for her, he wanted her to be happy and to see how much he loved her.

"Yes."

"B-but I didn't even ask yet…"

"Fine, ask" She said with mock impatience.

"Akiko, will you marry me?"

"No." She turned her head away to hide her smile.

"B-but you just said-"

"What, I can't change my mind? News flash, I'm a woman, we change our minds all the time." She was struggling to hold in her laughter at that and tried to keep her voice as stern as possible, as if scolding a child.

"Oh…right…ok then…" He said in such a tone that it made her instantly regret teasing him.

"Idiot…I was joking," She smiled and pounced on him, kissing him passionately "of course I'll marry you."

They began to kiss again. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to tens of minutes. The figure in the bushes watched as they began to moan and strip before making his move.

_Finally, I thought they would never look away…why are they taking their clothes off?_

Creeping slowly up to the kissing couple, so as not to alarm them, he reached forward slowly…Only to stop when he saw something thrown his way, a bra…_what the- what is that? _He stepped into the sun to investigate the foreign object and his figure was shown to be that of just a boy, If you consider a bag of bones with an orange ripped shirt and pants a boy, he looked no older than 5 due to his lack of food, he was, in fact, 7. He had blonde hair, which was hard to tell due to the amount of dirt and grime it held, blue eyes that were glued on the strange thing in front of him, and strangely…he seemed to have whisker marks on his cheeks.

His trancelike state was broken however when he heard the laughter.

"**Don't worry kit, it's nothing you need to worry about, it's a girl thing. For now, you should grab the food while you can, the bento smells good." ****_And something else smells better…_**The fox inside of him chuckled at its little thought before speaking to the boy again. **"Hurry now, you need food."**

Sighing, the boy quickly grabbed the basket full of food and began to run away. He quickly stopped however and turned back to them and bowed, silently thanking them for the meal and also apologizing that he had to steal something they had worked on. He hated stealing…but it was necessary…at least, that's what his inner voice told him.

Running away again, he stopped only to catch his breath. Looking around to see if anyone was around, he backed up to a tree slowly. Seeing no one, he quickly darted up the tree, taking his food with him

Once he reached the densest part of the tree, he sat and opened the basket. Inside was a single large bento box, black with large ornate golden branches spanning across the lid.

Taking the lid off, the boy's eyes widened and began to tear. Never before had he seen so much food in front of him. There was a baked fish surrounded with rice and had lemon wedges placed on top.

The vision was forgotten however, as the smell from the box began to move into his nose. He closed his eyes and shuddered slightly at the smell, his stomach growling impatiently.

He didn't dig in however, the voice inside had always told him to thank Kami for whatever food he could get, even if it was scraps from garbage bins he had always thanked her.

Placing the box in front of him, he crossed his legs and clapped his hands together in front of his face.

"Thank you very much for the meal. Again, I am very sorry" Bowing his head slightly, he thought _and thank you voice, for teaching me that it is necessary to steal to eat, I'm not proud of it, but I know I must do it to stay alive._

"**No problem kit, I'm actually proud of you. You could have just run away but you decided to turn and bow to thank the people you were stealing from. No matter who you are, that takes balls." **The fox smiled as it praised the young one it had to protect.

_Balls? What do balls have anything to do with it? I didn't play catch with them…_

The fox chuckled at the boy's ignorance and brushed it of **"Eat now, you'll need your energy you know."**

Nodding, the boy took a fork and tore off a piece of the fish. The smoky smell of the fish made his mouth water greatly, he couldn't wait to eat!

As he brought the fork to his mouth, the piece of food on the end disappeared. Looking down, he frowned and thought that the fish had fallen. Picking at the fish again, he brought it to his mouth, only to have it happen again.

Suddenly, the basket disappeared, then the blanket the bento box was sitting on, and then finally the box itself.

Stunned, the boy stared down at the spot his meal had been, the fork still in his hand.

Slowly, he began to climb down the tree. Once on the ground he placed his head against the trunk and began to cry softly, his stomach growling loudly.

A man watched the boy cry and felt a huge urge to console him, however, he knew that there was nothing he could do currently. Turning, he looked at the man next to him, anger in his voice.

"You could have at least let him taste it you know…" he said as he watched the other man clean his teeth with the bones from the fish. "That was cruel, even for you Hideki…"

The other man laughed and burped loudly, "Come now Hiroshi, we can't all be as caring and as generous as you. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Besides, why should the demon brat eat before I do?"

"Because he probably hasn't eaten anything in days…Brother." He said the last word with such venom it made Hideki laugh.

"So what if the brat doesn't eat. If we're lucky he'll die and we won't have to tail him any longer, then you could go back to your precious little garden."

Disgusted, Hiroshi continued to watch the boy, as it was his duty as a ninja, given to him by the third hokage himself. How was he supposed to care for the boy if his brother seemed to do all he could to do the exact opposite? He sighed and watched the poor boy wipe his eyes and walk away slowly. _I'm sorry…Naruto._

_His thoughts were interrupted as another loud burp was heard, he closed his eyes in frustration._

_"Come on, out shift is over brother, let someone else tail the demon." The man said before jumping from the branch, leaving Hiroshi to himself._

_He watched the boy continue to walk the opposite direction his brother had gone. Smiling sadly, the man jumped as well._

_Naruto was heartbroken. The first meal he would have had in three days had slipped right through his fingers. The fox knew exactly what had happened, but it didn't have the heart to tell the boy that it had gotten stolen._

_It didn't understand why Hiroshi had stood idly while his brother tormented the boy. It could tell that he despised his brother, but he still did nothing. This enraged the fox even more, as being indifferent to wrong acts was as bad, if not worse, than the wrong act itself._

_Naruto continued to walk down the trail , his tears falling down his cheeks, flowing over his whisker marks, when a small thump was heard in front of him. Startled, the boy jumped back in surprise. He looked down and saw a small satchel, the top was held together by simple string._

_Picking it up carefully, he looked around, wondering who could have dropped it. Shrugging, he opened it and emptied its contents onto the ground. A small loaf of bread and chunk of cheese came rolling out, along with a small piece of paper that had one word written on it._

_"Sorry"_

_Naruto gasped as he held the food in his hand, again he began to look around, wondering where this bounty had come from. He didn't want to eat it however, as it wasn't his. Sure he had stolen the picnic basket, but look at where that had gotten him._

_He sighed when he couldn't find the one who dropped the sack and sat on the forest floor, defeated._

_"**Eat it kit, the one that dropped it is far away now. He would understand, plus, you really need the food…"**_

_Nodding, the boy placed the food in front of him and clapped his hands together in front of his face._

_"Thank you for the food!"_

_As he began to eat the bread and cheese, the fox sighed to itself and looked towards the direction the ninja had run off to. All of Naruto's hardships were its fault, that is why it had made itself known to him. It knew he needed a friend, even if it was an internal one._

***Flashback***

Naruto ran until he couldn't run anymore and stopped behind a tree, struggling to breathe. The voices of the angry village people could be heard in the distance. He didn't know why he was being chased; all he had done was ask to buy some food from a stand and the next thing he knew he was running from what seemed like the entire village. Who seemed to like the idea of chasing him with pitchforks and torches. He didn't even know where all the pitchforks came from…there weren't _that_ many farmers in or near Konoha.

The voices could be heard closer now. He could make out some words such as "Death to the monster". What monster was there that they needed the entire village to kill? He was scared and confused…and alone.

"**You aren't alone kit. You have me."**

Startled, Naruto looked around for the voice, arms up ready to defend what he could of his body.

"Wh-who's there?" He called out a little loudly.

"**Shh, quiet now little one. You need to get away quietly otherwise those people will hurt you. Don't ask me why they want to, now is not the time for such questions. I know that you are hurting from running so much, but you need to try to run more. As to who I am, just think of me as a friend, a voice in your head."**

_Friend?_

"**Yes, friend. And yes, I know what you are thinking because I am in your head little one. But now you must run. No!" **It screamed as a kunai had suddenly pierced Naruto's shoulder, effectively pinning him to the tree. The boy struggled as much as he could to pull the painful object out of his shoulder, but to no avail. He cried from the pain, his lips mouthing the word "Mommy" over and over.

A small thud was heard in front of Naruto who looked up to see a man with cold eyes staring down at him, a headband on his forehead with the symbol of a leaf on it. A ninja.

"Heh, your "Mommy" isn't here demon spawn. But don't worry little orphan, I'll make sure you meet her very soon…after you and I have some fun before the villagers get here…"

Naruto watched as the man pulled out another kunai and stared at the man with tears pouring down his face. "P-please don't hurt me."

"Peh, cry all you want demon, no one cares." The ninja smiled as he pierced his other shoulder, making the poor boy cry out even louder.

The fox inside of him crashed against the bars of its cage, trying to free itself to save Naruto, but it was useless, the seal held firm. It watched helplessly as the ninja pulled out yet another kunai, it winced each cut was made onto his skin, it watched as each tear fell to the ground, to mix with the pool of blood that was beginning to spread.. **_Naruto…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…_**

"Heh, looks like we're out of time, well now you die demon." The man stood up straight and pointed his kunai down at the boy, meaning to stab him through the chest.

"**Close your eyes Naruto…The pain will stop soon." **

Naruto listened to the voice, anything to make the pain stop. He didn't see the blade come down to his chest, but he did hear the sound of metal piercing flesh. Then…absolute silence.

"Naruto, I'm sorry…this should never have happened."

His eyes snapped open at the sound of the new voice. His eyes fell upon a man wearing a red and white robe. The body of the ninja lay at his feet, a kunai through his throat.

"I was on a mission to form a stronger treaty the village hidden in the sand…I'm sorry. I should have known better…I just…didn't think people were capable of doing this… To a five year old" The man cried at seeing Naruto's condition. The kunai were still through his shoulders and seemed to be the only thing holding him up. His arms and legs were riddled with cuts. His legs had each tendon cut so they couldn't support his body. Some flesh hung loosely from his body as the blood pumped from the wounds they seemed to twitch angrily. The man retched at seeing him like this and retched again when he pulled the kunai out of Naruto's shoulders, unable to knock him unconscious because of the cuts on his neck. He was amazed that he was still awake…and sad too.

"I'll protect you as best as I can Naruto…To keep my promise." He said quietly as the pain from pulling the kunai out of his shoulders finally made the boy pass out, mercifully.

"**Thank you Hokage and I'll do my best to keep you safe as well little one. Starting with healing every wound now…And every wound you will get later, as I suspect there will be more scenes like this…"** The fox said to itself as it began to treat the wounds, stopping the bleeding and strengthening the beating of his heart.

***End Flashback***

The fox cringed at the memory and then sighed quietly.

"**Well…At least some of the people in this god forsaken village are willing to help the boy…"**

As Naruto got closer to the village, he could see the gates, and with them, the guards. He sighed as the guards stopped him with grins on their faces.

"I'm sorry, who are you? You don't seem to have a village pass _boy_." The first guard spat out the last word as if it were a vile thing to say.

Naruto stared at the two men as tears started to appear; he just wanted to rest now…was that too much to ask for?

"You're right sir…I don't have a village pass as I don't need one. I am a citizen of this village and you can ask the Hokage if you want."

At this the first guard who spoke stiffened. He had forgotten that the boy knew the Hokage. However, his partner came to his aid.

"I'm sorry boy, but the Hokage isn't in today, he went on a mission so I'm sorry but we can't let you in."

Naruto, knowing that the Hokage wouldn't go on a mission without telling him, knew the man was lying, but he also knew that he would not be granted access to the village. Turning slowly, he and began to walk away, hoping he could find some leaves, or even a cave to sleep in.

"What is the meaning of this? Turning a poor boy away due to lack of a village pass, which is meant for _ninja_ only. And look at him! He's half dead."

Naruto froze mid-step as he heard the third voice, a woman's this time. He turned back to the gate and saw her. She was carrying a brown bag full a groceries, that caught his eye first, causing him to drool, all he had eaten was bread and cheese. The second thing that drew his attention was the glare of anger she gave to the guards. Her eyes a blazing red, seeming to bore a hole through the men's skulls.

"K-Kurenai, s-surely you know who this is. We can't let him back in the village." The trembling guard said, the other one looking as if he would soil himself.

"So, you _knew_ who he was and _still _refused him access, is that what I'm hearing, guard?"

Knowing he was caught the guard stepped to the side and allowed Naruto to walk by him as the woman motioned for him to come near her.

"I know who he is, and that does not bother me, if I so much as hear that you treat him badly again, I'll make sure you _both_ see your worst nightmares come to fruition. You know very well that I am capable do you not?" She said, glaring even harder at the two men who shook their heads and bowed for forgiveness.

"Good, see to it that it doesn't happen again." She said as she walked away with the boy.

Hideki shuddered as he watched the scene. "You know, for being only 20 she really _is _the ice queen of Konoha, she's terrifying….It's a shame she came when she did, otherwise the boy would have been forced to find food and shelter in the forest, and he would have probably died."

Hiroshi sighed as his brother spoke, grateful to Kami for giving the boy some luck.

**With Naruto and Kurenai**

"So, why were you outside little one?" Naruto stared at the woman that the guard had called Kurenai as she said "little one". She had said it in the same tone as his voice did sometimes. She seemed to actually care.

"I-I was trying to find some food…"

"Outside? What food could you find there?" She asked as they walked, the glares the villagers giving the boy next to her were making her angry.

"Well…there was this couple having a picnic and I grabbed their food…" Kurenai stopped walking as he said this and stared at the boy in anger, that is until she said the look ashamed look on his face.

"I see…Do you not have any money?" The sad look on his face began to tell her of his plight

"I used to…whenever I went to the stores they would always raise their prices so I wouldn't be able to buy anything. When I did buy things, they weren't in the best shape and I barely had any money left. After that, most of the time there would be someone waiting outside who would ask that I give them what money I had, including what I had bought."

Kurenai was stunned as they reached her house. Standing there, key in hand she refused to move.

"Raised their prices? Robbed you? A CHILD?" Her grip tightened on the bag, she could feel some items get crushed inside but she didn't care.

She looked over and saw the boy standing there shivering, hands up to protect himself. She sighed at her outburst and put the bag on the ground. Naruto closed his eyes and expected her to hit him for stealing, and because she had yelled. What happened next surprised both him and every villager that happened to be walking by. He could feel pressure around his neck, but it wasn't cutting off air. Confused he opened his eyes and was stunned to see that Kurenai was down on one knee and had her arms wrapped around him.

Naruto didn't know what to do. This had never happened to him before. He started to push her away in an attempt to escape any pain that she might have behind this gesture but as stopped as she hugged him even tighter and heard the voice in his head speak.

"**Don't worry little one…It's called a hug, people do it to one another when they love each other, greet each other, or feel sorry for another. It's a good thing kit, enjoy it."**

He closed his eyes and began to let the hug sink in. _Thank you voice. _He wrapped his arms back around Kurenai.

The villagers near them had stopped and stared dumbfounded. Here was the Ice Queen of Konoha, actually _hugging_ someone…without a care in the world. Where she would normally send them to the hospital for either physical pain, or pain she caused from a genjutsu. She seemed to be doing something else too, but the villagers couldn't see as they were too far away from the front door.

Naruto moved his hands away as soon as he felt Kurenai begin to shudder. Her sobs now audible.

"I'm sorry! It won't happen again I promise I'll never steal! And if it's about me hugging you back I'm sorry too, that wont ha-" he stopped as he was hugged tighter as the sobs grew.

When Kurenai had hugged him the first time she noticed for the first time that there were holes in his shirt. Through those holes she could see angry white lines against the color of his skin. She knew what they were as she had some as well, but she could only imagine how this young boy had gotten these.

_These are from kunai…_

At that realization she had hugged him tighter and begun to tear as her eyes darted to each visible line. With each one she shed more and more tears, until she was in her current situation with Naruto.

Standing up straight, she sniffed quietly and kissed him on the forehead, effectively making every person within a 30 foot radius, other than herself, stop breathing for a few seconds, all were surprised.

"Come inside please Naruto, I seem to have bought too much food, do you mind helping me finish it?" She laughed because as soon as she finished her sentence Naruto hugged her again, albeit carefully, as if asking for permission, he was hugged back of course. Opening the door, she led him in and closed it behind her.

Everyone that had stopped breathing each took in much needed air as soon as the door clicked into place. They had not believed what they saw. She had both _hugged and kissed_ a member of the opposite sex! Many shook their heads, the ninja present had to bite their thumbs and attempt a genjutsu release before they concluded that it was indeed a real event.

Hideki pulled a cigarette from his vest pocket and lit it, blowing smoke towards his brother, who waved it away.

"Well…this could be troublesome…"

Confused, Hiroshi looked as his brother but decided not to ask anything. He was happy for Naruto, for he finally found someone that seemed to care for him, and even showed him affection…something he knew that Naruto hadn't felt a lot of.

**With Naruto and Kurenai**

Kurenai watched as the young boy ate as fast as he could, she guessed it was from having to scrounge for food and eat as fast as he could before someone else mugged him…

Smiling she saw the empty plate and handed him her still more than half full plate and saw as the war raged inside of him.

"What about you Miss Kurenai? I wouldn't feel right eating all of your food." Handing her the plate back, he smiled. "Please eat, I don't want to have you think I'm taking advantage of you."

She laughed at that, here was a boy who she found out was seven, that actually cared about not taking advantage of her and wanted to show her as much kindness for the amount she had given him.

_The men of Konoha could learn a thing or two from him._

"Plus I'm not hungry anymore Miss Kurenai." He said. He was betrayed however by his stomach who growled angrily, as if it were upset that he was lying and it wasn't getting more.

"Please don't lie to me Naruto, there is plenty of food left over, I'll just eat something else. Please eat for me." She smiled and forced her food onto his plate, using her red eyes to make him understand she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Defeated, he began to devour the food with gusto, effectively wiping every trace of food on the plate from existence. Kurenai smiled in approval of this and went to pick up his plate to clean up.

She was stopped however as she felt a tiny hand on her wrist "Miss Kurenai, please, I'll wash up." She was about to argue but blue eyes met red and it was his turn to show that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Sighing, she put her hands up in surrender and let him wash up. She had to turn away however, as his back was now shown to her, his shirt had so many holes in it that she could see each and every angry scar.

After he was done washing up Naruto walked over and sat down at the table facing her.

"So…what do we do now?"

"Well, now it's time for bed." She saw the sad look on the boy's face as he got up to move for the door. "Wait, where are you going?"

"You said you wanted to sleep, I'll leave you now Miss Kurenai."

"Please Naruto, it's just Kurenai to you," Naruto looked up at this, the voice had always said to use "Miss" or "Mister" when talking to a person that is older than you. "and as to going to bed, I meant _we_ are going to bed, I have an extra room, would you like it? Ah!"

She yelled out as suddenly the boy was wrapped around her yelling his thanks over and over again at such a kind gesture, tears of joy running down her cheeks. Smiling, she placed a hand on his head and rubbed it slowly, not caring about the dirt and grime in it. When he stopped crying she led him to the bathroom.

"However, you need a bath Naruto," She pinched her nose playfully "you're a bit…ripe."

He grinned sheepishly and nodded furiously, not wanting to anger his new friend…if not more than his friend.

While he was in the shower, Kurenai had time to think. She thought about all the scars on Naruto's back and then thought about his smile. She thought about his eyes, those blue eyes that seemed to hold so much feeling, even if they had seen more than any child should have, let alone any person. Suddenly, a thought came to mind that made her smile as she began to map out her plan.

When he came out of the bathroom, hair still damp but now clean, he saw Kurenai sitting on the couch. He thanked her for the clothes she had given him before his shower and saw a look on her face, he didn't know what it was, but he wasn't sure if he should like it or not.

Kurenai stared at the boy in front of her and marveled at the change. His hair was now a dazzling blonde, instead of the dirty brunette she had seen before, his skin was actually tan, instead of being close to black. All in all, he looked much better than before, albeit he was still a little skinny.

"Say…Naruto?" she said, seeing him look at her with a look of confusion. "I seem to have a problem…"

Wondering what problem she could possibly have, he perked right up and said, "What's the problem Mi-" he stopped as she glared at him "*ahem* What's the problem Kurenai?" He relaxed at the look of approval on her face.

"Well, you see, I seem to have that second room up there…It used to belong to a friend of mine, but she hasn't been around in a while and now there is no one to fill it permanently. It does get lonely around here with no one to talk to. I was wondering…do you think you could fill that room permanently Naruto?"

Looking over at him, she gave out a giggle. If jaws could hit the floor, his would surely be three floors below ground. Again, he attacked her, hugging her as tightly as his malnourished body could.

"I'll talk that as a yes then?" A nod "Good, then tomorrow we will see the hokage and see about putting you in the Ninja academy.

The boy froze at this for a moment pondering. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing when suddenly his grip got tighter, causing her to laugh.

"Another good idea then! Haha, alright Naruto, it's time for bed." Carrying him up the stairs, she brought him to his bed and laid him in it, literally tucking him in. Kissing his forehead good night, the boy was asleep before her lips even left his head.

She walked away slowly and turned to look at him, smiled widely as she saw the content smile on his face, turned back and walked out and closed the door behind her.

No one would ever hurt him again as long as she could help it. He had been through enough already. She vowed to herself as long as she was alive, she would help to make sure that no harm would ever come to him as long as he was in her care. Whether it be in her home, or outside of it. He was safe.

The fox saw everything with tears in its eyes. It couldn't have been happier for Naruto. An image of the boy appeared in her cell, sleeping as the original one was. The fox began to change shape, slowly its fur seemed to recede back into its body, and the only hair staying was on top of its head and tails. It straightened up slowly as the joints in its legs went from point backwards, to forwards.

Slowly but surely the fox went from being a demon fox, to being a human. Granted it was a human with fox ears and nine fox tails, but it was still a human. It leaned over the sleeping apparition of Naruto and placed a kiss on his forehead, causing a small grunt from the boy who didn't wake up.

"**Good night Kit." **The fox said, its voice different now. Instead of the gruff voice it once had, it now held the voice of a woman, pure and gentle. Her voice seemed to be heard by Naruto as a smile appeared on his face. She placed a hand on his cheek and began to hum quietly, rubbing his cheek slowly in tune with the song.

* * *

**A/N: Ok now, I know that you might not see anything different in this chapter, but I just wanted to let you know that this chapter did change. I really am going through each and every chapter to make sure that each chapter is up to my standards.**

**Some might have a lot of changes, some might have barely any, like this chapter. Some might even be completely redone! This is just a warning to all those that will read this story or have read this story.**

**As I said before, I will be saying screw it and I will make this fic a harem fic, I like harems, I think that Naruto deserves some loving, I mean really, he was alone for so long. However, just because this will be harem, doesn't mean they will rape the poor boy! I am not familiar with writing lemons, but I will give it my best shot, anyway, thanks for reading, hope that this story is still liked when I'm through with it!.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright I'm sorry, i know i said that this chapter would only take a week, but i really did write it as soon as i could. Hopefully the wait was worth it, its basically the same, but hopefully if you read the chapter before i rewrote it, you will see that i really did try to improve it.**

**As for the Harem guys, I think i'm going to make it just a few girls, and only girls i can see loving Naruto unconditionally.  
**

**As always, review please. I want to know what you guys think, whether you think it's bad or great, i wanna know! Give me some ideas.  
**

**FNG: **Do i own Naruto? Yes! I can say i do ***Smiles nervously***

**Naruto: *Pulls on my pant leg* **It's not nice to lie Andrew-san...

**FNG: *Looks down at the boy*** I dont know what you're talking about!

***Naruto does giant Anime puppy eyes, with little waterfall tears***

Gah! Ok Ok, i dont own Naruto...***Hangs head*** But i can dream...

* * *

**Shout out to Dantheman! Thanks a lot for catching that typo of mine, would have realllllly hurt the story.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

The Fox's New Den

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, the heaviness of sleepy still wearing him down. His eyes scanned the room slowly before they snapped open in surprise and stared at the walls. Rubbing his eyes slowly, he opened them again only to see that they were still there, red as can be.

_I haven't woken up in a room in a long time…_

He smiled and shook his head slowly, laughing at his excitement of a simple room. Yawning quietly, he reached for his shirt and pulled it on and then proceeded to put his pants on, being careful not to stick his foot through the random holes that were along the legs.

"**Good morning kit, did you sleep well?"**

The little boy nodded slightly and then blushed when he realized it was his inner voice that had spoken.

_Yes I did voice, very well in fact. I almost forgot what a real bed felt like!_

The fox chuckled at this and began to send some warming chakra into the boy's system, making it so all forms of fatigue were taken away. Naruto smiled and stretched slowly, thankful for the feeling. He didn't know yet that the voice was helping him, he figured that the warm feeling always came in the mornings.

After stretching, a soft knocking sound went throughout the room.

"Yes?" He called out to the visitor.

"Naruto-kun, it's me." A soft feminine voice replied.

Running over to the door, Naruto swung it open and instantly beamed with joy. In front of him was a beautiful young woman, he guessed that she was in her late teens to early twenties.

"Come on, did you forget that you're going to see the hokage today? We want to make this legal as soon as possible. You do want to stay here with me don't you?"

At this the boy began to nod furiously, which in turn made the woman smile. However, her smile turned into a frown as she looked at the clothes that Naruto had been wearing the day before. She shook her head at the state they were in and walked into his room, opening the blinds so she could see.

After opening them, she began to rummage through the dresser near the window, completely ignoring Naruto as she continued to look for more suitable clothing for him.

As she did this, the young boy had the perfect chance to look at the woman. He realized that he didn't really look at her yesterday, considering how hectic it was, and that now was the perfect chance. She wore a white kimono with a dark red sash going around her mid-section and the trim was a slightly lighter shade of red.

His eyes continued to move down her body and he saw that the robe wasn't a full one, in fact, it ended at about mid-thigh. It was followed by a red skirt that went a few inches past the point where her kimono ended.

He heard Kurenai sigh before she turned around to face him.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, it seems like I don't have anything your size…" She said in a defeated tone.

Naruto wasn't listening, however, as he was staring at her intently, his eyes darting over her image. Her face was amazing to say the least. It bore no blemishes of any kind and looked extremely fair. Her eyes and lips looked extremely red when compared to her skin and he wondered if she wore lipstick.

The sun from the window hit her back, making it look as if she were radiating and the beams showed that she had red highlights, very faint ones.

"Er…Why are you staring at me like that?"

At this, the boy broke out of his trance and shook his head slightly.

"S-sorry…" They boy blushed slightly, although he was unsure as to why he did so. "It's just that…well, you're really pretty Kurenai-chan."

The woman blushed slightly as his words sunk in.

"Also…the sun coming from the window makes you look like an angel…"

This caused the woman to have a blush that rivaled the redness of her eyes. Seeing this, the boy cocked his head to the side slightly, looking like a confused dog.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head violently to get over being complimented.

"Nothing Naruto-kun, thank you for the compliment, I'm glad you really feel that way. Usually when I get complimented, they guys just say it to get into my pants. Oh!"

She brought her hand up to her mouth and let out a little nervous squeak at her little blunder. The boy cocked his head to the other side and looked down.

"But Kurenai-chan…you don't wear pants. You wear a very nice kimono."

The woman let out a sigh of relief at the boy's innocence.

_Kami…that was close…_

Suddenly a quiet knocking came from the front door, quickly followed by a series of impatient banging.

"Nai-Chan! I'm back!" A woman's voice called from the door.

Naruto saw Kurenai's face instantly light up and saw her run out of the room quickly. As she ran down the stairs, he went into the bathroom to answer nature's call. After he was through, he began to wash his hands when he saw the hamper next to the door. Hanging along the edge of it was a pair of red pants.

_Oh, I guess she does wear pants, but why would guys want to get into her pants? They wouldn't fit at all…_

He could hear quiet giggling coming from inside his head but decided not to question the voice. Walking over to the stairs, he saw Kurenai talking to another woman. Hiding from view, he sat and listened.

"Long time no see Nai-chan! I see you still love the color red…We've seriously got to take you shopping for a different color!"

Kurenai scowled at the use of her pet name and because her friend had been making fun of her.

"And I see that you still love to be *ahem* rather free…Maybe we should take you shopping for some less revealing clothes Ko-chan…" She said with a serious tone.

This in turn made the woman in front of her scowl, as she too hated having a pet name. Her name was Anko dammit! Not "Ko-chan"!

The two women scowled at each other for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. Naruto saw them hug and continue laughing and shook his head.

_Women are…strange._

Again he could hear quiet giggling coming from his head.

"So, how did your mission go? Were you able to talk to our informant?" Kurenai asked, holding her friend at arms length. She realized she said the wrong thing, as Anko's smile vanished.

"It went…poorly. It seems that our informant wasn't careful. We found his head on a pike when we arrived…Along with his wife and kids…"

This caused Kurenai to gasp quietly, bringing her hand to her mouth. She hugged her friend again tightly.

"Don't worry Anko…I'm sure you'll find him soon." She said quietly, trying to make Anko feel better.

The woman sighed quietly and hugged her friend back before pulling away.

"Thanks Nai-chan. I just want to sleep now; we had a long run back."

She saw Kurenai flinch slightly when she said she wanted to sleep and this made her eyebrow rise slightly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Come with me…" Kurenai spoke quietly, leading Anko to the kitchen. She handed her a cup of tea, an apologetic look coming across her face.

"S-sorry Anko…But I needed to give away your room…He needed it more."

Anko stood there speechless until the words finally clicked. "What? Why! Wait…He?..._HE?"_

The woman stared at Kurenai some more before launching herself at the woman, wrapping her arms around her to form a bone crushing hug.

"My little Kurenai has turned into a woman!"

This caused the woman to blush profusely, she began stuttering as she pushed Anko away slightly.

"ANKO! I just met him yesterday!"

Anko's jaw dropped slightly. Again she practically tackled the poor embarrassed woman.

"OMG! I'm so proud of you!"

Realizing her mistake, Kurenai shook her head quickly. "No, no! I didn't sleep with him Anko…He's too small anyway."

"Ah I see…Poor guy…How small?" Anko asked, genuinely sad for her friend.

"Um, around two, two and a half, I don't know, I haven't measured him yet, haven't had the chance."

"Two and a half inches?" She again asked, her question coming out as a giggle. She sipped her tea, thankful for it as she hadn't had any in over two weeks.

"What?" Asked a confused Kurenai, "No Anko, two feet."

Instantly, the tea Anko had drunk, turned into a fine mist as she spit it out and began to cough. This made Kurenai race over to her friend, patting her back until the coughing fit ceased.

Leaning back slightly, a small trickle of blood came from Anko's left nostril. She began mumbling quietly.

"Two feet…Kami…What I could do with that…" Thankfully, this was unheard.

Kurenai nudged her friend lightly, "Are you ok?" a nod. "Ok then, would you like to meet him?" A slower nod. "Good, maybe then you could measure him for me."

Instantly, the blood coming from Anko's nose turned into a waterfall, shooting her backwards in her chair, making her fall to the ground as the thought of being able to measure the mystery man flooded her mind.

Confused, Kurenai looked towards the kitchen doorway. "Naruto, you can come in now."

This caused Anko to jump up from the floor, her nose still bleeding profusely, it was a wonder she didn't bleed to death… Her eyes darted to the kitchen doorway, stopping at the level a man's crotch would be if he entered her field of vision.

Slowly, figure appeared in her sights and she zeroed in, only to become greatly confused. There, standing in the doorway, was a small child. Instantly, the blood from her nose ceased and she face palmed hard as she realized what her friend had meant by two feet.

When she pulled her hand away, a small red oval stayed on her forehead.

Naruto stared at the new woman in front of him and saw what Kurenai had meant by "free" earlier.

Anko wore a simple brown trench coat that remained unbuttoned to reveal another simple garment underneath…Fishnet…

_Why would she wear fishnet…_

"**Because she seems like a slu- *Ahem* slightly strange girl." **The fox said, sighing quietly at its near mistake.

_You're right, she does seem strange._

His eyes fell downwards and saw that she wore a small…okay…_very_ small tan skirt and simple ninja sandals. Looking upwards, he saw that her hair was a strange color, it seemed like it was a shade of purple and it was tied up into a messy pony-tail, random strands sticking up everywhere. The hair that wasn't tied up, surrounded her face nicely.

"How did you know I was there Kurenai-chan?" The boy said in wonder after he was done looking at the new woman. "And hello there!" He smiled warmly.

Anko had to resist the urge to smile back. She was thrown, usually people scowled at her, not smile. Raising her defenses, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned her head to the side, tilting her chin up slightly.

Kurenai giggled at her friend and turned towards the boy. "I'm a kunoichi Naruto-kun, or, a female ninja."

Naruto's eyes widened at this and he smiled even more. "Cool! Are you a ninja too Anko-chan?"

The woman turned and stared at the boy incredulously.

_Wait…did she say kun? WAIT! Did he just call me Chan?..._

"I'm sorry about your mission by the way…And for taking your room." They boy frowned slightly, this caused the woman to turn her head towards her friend, making a little "Hmph" noise.

"I see how it is Nai-chan…giving my room away to a little brat like this."

Naruto's gaze fell to the floor, his hair shadowing his face slightly so she couldn't see his eyes. His hands began to tremble slightly.

"Anko! He was being so nice to you! He even apologized" Kurenai said sternly, expecting her friend to apologize.

"Who cares?! It's my room, I'm the one that's been living here for years, why does he ge-" She stopped as she heard a small sound come from the boy. A sniffle.

Slowly, she turned and saw that the boy was trembling slightly, she heard another sniffle come from the boy. She walked slowly over to him and got down on one knee. Lifting her hand to the boy's chin, she lifted it up slowly. A single tear was moving down along Naruto's cheek.

Instantly, the mask that Anko wore was broken. Gone was the flirty, care-free, and mock angry Anko, only to be replaced with a kind and caring one. She cupped his cheek gently and wiped away the tear with her thumb lightly.

She couldn't believe that she had been so mean to the boy, he was so young after all. As she continued to rub his cheek, however, she looked into his eyes and saw that he had seen more and gone through more than a normal child should.

"I didn't mean what I said…I'm sorry. You must be Naruto, right?" She was answered by a nod. "Well I'm Anko, I'm Kurenai-chan's friend from the academy. Her hand rubbed Naruto's back apologetically but stopped as she looked at his face again.

"Wait, you're Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" The boy looked at her, shocked that she knew his full name.

Anko wrapped her arms around the small boy. She was surprised that he was so small, so skinny. How could she not know Naruto…He was the only person that might have had a life worse than her. She had seen how the villagers had treated the boy, but there was nothing she could do, as she was being sent on mission after mission by the hokage.

Her fingers continued to move over his back slowly, until they came upon a small hole in his shirt. Her fingertips moved over his skin slightly and she gasped quietly as she felt the raised skin she knew had to be a scar.

Normally, a simple scar wouldn't affect her, but she also knew this couldn't be a simple scar…No, the skin was raised too far for it to be small. She continued to move her fingers down his back slowly, until she reached another hole and found that this scar was even worse than the first.

"Naruto…can I see your back please?" She asked hesitantly.

Confused, the boy nodded. Any friend of Kurenai's was naturally a friend of his. Turning around, the boy pulled his shirt off slowly.

Anko and Kurenai both gasped. Kurenai knew that Naruto had had scars on his back, but she had only seen them through the holes in his shirt. Now she could see everything…Each and every one.

Both women were stunned at the sight. Naruto turned around and looked at each of the women, seeing that they had tears in their eyes, he became very worried.

"What's wrong?"

The woman stared at the front of his body and began to tear even more, and instantly, both were hugging him, unable to look at the scars any more.

_On the front too…_ Both kunoichis thought at the same time.

The fox was ashamed of itself. It had been able to heal Naruto, sure, but due to the extremeness of some of his injuries, it was only able to close the wounds, not take the scarring away. However, it took the smaller cuts and injuries away, leaving no scars. This just shows how hard a life Naruto has had, and this made the fox even more upset.

Anko slowly traced the lines on Naruto's back with gentle fingers, causing the boy to flinch slightly. He wrapped his own arms around her and Kurenai, wanting to console them, confused as to why they were so upset. It was strange because they were doing the same to him, hugging him to console him.

-== Later That Evening ==-

Naruto couldn't have been happier, here he was, sitting between two people that had showed him such kindness, he couldn't even believe it. He had learned that Anko was a member of the ANBU, which, when explained by her and Kurenai, made him realize that she was very strong.

"Wow! That's so amazing. You're so cool Anko-chan." He said, smiling widely as his eyes stared at her in awe.

Anko raised her hand and waved it nervously, "Ahah, no, no Naruto-kun, I'm not that strong. Besides, Nai-chan here could make a man cry in a few seconds, thanks to that genjutsu ability of hers."

"Genjutsu?" Asked a confused blonde, his head cocked to the side slightly.

"A genjutsu messes with someone's mind, making them see something that isn't really happening."

At this, Naruto's jaw dropped slightly, his blue eyes moved over to Kurenai, making her blush a rosy red. She didn't understand why he was looking at her like that. Sure, she prided herself in her art, but she didn't think it was an amazing feat, like Anko joining the ANBU at the age of 16.

"Wow! You guys are so cool! I hope I can be like you one day."

This made both women continue to blush. They weren't really used to people complimenting them. Anko, because of who her master used to be, and Kurenai didn't really let anyone compliment her.

"So, Naruto, why don't you tell us about yourself, since you know a lot about us already." Anko said in a sad tone.

She could tell that the child didn't want to, but she also knew that he needed to vent out his hurt, otherwise, he might become like her. Hiding behind a mask, unable to show anyone her true self from fear of being hurt again.

She could already see the small child had a mask of his own. He was so happy all the time, sometimes even overly happy over the smallest of things. The mask would have to go.

The child's smile slowly faded as he lowered his gaze to the table, his eyes seemed to stare off into the distance. He began to tell them his story, how he had been treated as a younger child and how he had managed to survive. He went on to tell them how he would have to rummage through garbage, and he had to steal.

As the women looked at the child, he lifted his head and they could tell that he hated to steal as he looked at them with apologetic eyes. He told them how he had to run for his life when he had been caught in garbage cans, and of the times he was beaten, stabbed, and left for dead.

After he finished, both women were pale. Even Anko had lost the color in her face at hearing what the village could do to a child. She didn't even have it that bad when she was left by her "master". She only had to deal with glares. It was suffice to say that Anko wanted to faint. Her! A ninja of the interrogation squad, wanted to faint…

*_Bang* _

Her thoughts were broken as the fist of Kurenai hit the table.

"How dare they! I'll make sure they all pay…I'll put the whole village under a genjutsu if I have to!"

Anko looked at her usually calm and collected friend. Usually she was the one that was prone to outbursts like that.

Opening her mouth to speak more, Kurenai was interrupted by a light knocking coming from the front door, causing her to huff in frustration.

She swung the door open forcibly, startling the ANBU with her red glare.

"What. Do. You. Want." Her voice was firm and every word caused the ANBU to shake a little more.

Just then, a little boy appeared in the doorway, wrapping his arms around the scary woman.

"Kurenai-chan…"

As soon as his voice left his lips, her anger subsided, all killing intent towards the ninja had stopped.

"*Ahem* What is it you want Anbu-san?"

"T-the council wishes to speak to you and one Naruto Uzumaki." With that, the ninja sighed in relief and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

-== 30 Minutes Later ==-

The trio stood in front of the faces glaring down at them. Both the representatives of the Ninja council and the Civilian council, the civilian side the ones glaring at the boy, while the ninja side had mixed reactions. Some glaring, some pitying, and some indifferent.

Every seat in the room was filled, save for one. Slowly, a member of the civilian council stood, her pink hair was a shock for Naruto.

_Pink? What a strange color…_

"We will now be-" She was interrupted however, as Kurenai glared at her.

"We will not begin until the Hokage is present, as you know Haruno-san. As you all know." She mostly said towards the civilian side.

The Ninja nodded their heads in approval while the civilian side scoffed but were forced to wait.

They didn't really have to wait long, as in just a few moments after she said anything, the doors opened to reveal a worn looking old man, clad in a red and white robe and hat, the clothing Naruto knew so well.

Grinning madly and running up to the man, Naruto launched himself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Old man! You're here? Why?"

At this, the entire civilian side stood up in protest, many voicing their opinions to the spectacle.

"This is an outrage unhand him _boy, _you will address him as Hokage-sama and nothing else!" A fat man said, red-faced.

Resting a hand on the young boy's head, the Hokage smiled and chuckled to himself. To be honest, he was a little surprised as to why Naruto was hugging him. The poor boy never hugged anyone.

_Wow, he's pretty skinny…Must be a growth spurt._

"It's quite alright Dai. He isn't attacking me." He looked towards the corners of the room, stopping his bodyguards from rushing in. "As for the 'Old man' remark…well let's face it. I _am_ old."

He gave the scowling man a smile, "It's his way of saying hello, speaking of which. Hello Naruto-kun, how are you?"

"I'm fine Old man, I met some nice people, they're over there" He pointed towards the two women sitting where he had launched himself. Quickly standing up, they bowed and spoke in unison.

"Hokage-sama"

"Sir"

Hiruzen laughed at this and waved his hand, "Please, don't bow, any friend of Naruto-kun's is a friend of mine."

At this, both women looked up towards him. Slowly, their eyes shifted to Naruto, and then back to Hiruzen, trying to see if there was a trap. When they found none, they stood up warily.

Nudging Naruto towards the two women, Hiruzen quickly took his seat.

"Now, why are we here? Someone care to explain?"

Dai cleared his throat loudly and stood up as straight as he could, trying to make himself look like royalty.

"Hokage-sama, we are here to speak about the de-" he froze as the old man gave him a deathly glare, making him sweat slightly. "T-the _b-boy_ and his action of theft yesterday. We also want to ask why he is now living with one, Kurenai Yuhi, without the proper registration papers.

The old man's eyes drifted towards the quivering boy, he could tell that Naruto was ashamed and he sighed quietly.

"Is this true Naruto-kun? Did you steal, and if so, what did you steal?"

A small nod was his only response.

"What did you steal?"

Naruto hung his head in shame, not wanting to look him in the eyes. To be honest, Hiruzen was slightly disappointed in the boy, he thought he knew better. His thoughts were interrupted as a small whisper was heard.

"Food…"

The fat man smiled at this and raised his arms, looking around the room.

"Ah! So it's true then! The boy has stolen property, he must be punished to the fullest extent."

"Quiet."

This simple word caused the smile on Dai's face to fade. Hiruzen's voice was quiet, but held so much killing intent that it made Dai lose his breath.

"Why did you steal the food Naruto? Do you not have enough to eat at the Orphanage?"

Slowly, the boy shook his head.

"Why not ask for more then? I am sure that they would give you some if you only asked." A small mumble was all that was heard, "hm?"

"Sir, he said he was kicked out of the orphanage a year ago, on his birthday…" A tearing Kurenai said, deciding to speak for the boy. "As the boy is too young, I wish to represent him. May I speak for you Naruto-kun?" A nod.

"It is true, Hokage-sama, that Naruto stole the food, but he had good reason to. The fact is, Naruto-kun hadn't eaten in days. Even though he stole the food however, he didn't get to taste it, as it had suddenly vanished."

The old man listened intently, angry beyond all belief. His head tilted downwards, the shadow from his hat hiding his face.

"Is this true Dai?"

At this, said man froze, standing up he stuttered, "H-Hokage-sama, i-it's not as it see-"

"I said 'IS IT TRUE'?" His voice now booming as he focused a massive amount of KI onto the poor man. The entire room seemed to be effected by it, save Naruto, who looked at the two women by his side as they started to shiver.

"Nai-chan? Ko-chan?"

"**Leave them be little one…they'll be fine. Your "grandfather" is just a little angry right now."**

"I see!" Hiruzen went on, "So, I leave him in _your_ care Dai, the head of the orphanage. I send stipend after stipend to, I repeat, _your,_ orphanage. Tell me Naruto, have you received any money?"

"None Jiji."

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard as the old man slammed his hand on the table, turning it into splinters. Raising his other hand, he snapped and instantly, two Anbu were at his side, kneeling with their heads down.

"Sir!" They said in unison.

"Please escort Dai to the interrogation department, and keep him there. Anko-san, would you like the honor of…questioning him?"

At this, the purple-haired kunoichi nodded slowly and smiled, her smile sending shivers down everyone's back, even the hokage himself.

"Gladly…Hokage-sama."

A small woman stood, shaking as the two Anbu came closer to the fat man.

"S-sir, please, the boy must be lying about not receiving any money…I don't feel there is any need to have my husband taken away…B-besides, what proof does the boy have!?"

At this, Hiruzen turned his head towards the Ninja council, "Inoichi."

A man with spiky dirty blonde hair stood.

"Sir?"

"Would you mind checking the memories of young Naruto-kun for me?"

"Yes sir, you want me to see if Naruto-san received any money?"

"Yes, and find out if he was mistreated in anyway at all. Also, if you can, please see if anyone has harmed him recently, but the most important thing s to see if what Naruto-kun says is true."

Inoichi bowed slightly before he vanished, appearing right in front of Naruto, his hand outstretched. He lowered it however, as he noticed the boy shaking, the women on each side of him threatening to tear him limb from limb if he hurt the boy in any way.

"May I young one?" He nodded slowly, still afraid of the new man in front of him.

Placing his hand on the child's forehead, Inoichi made a single-handed hand sign and whispered, "**Mind Transfer Jutsu: Memories Revealed"**

Hiruzen watched as the head of the Yamanaka clan went to work and sighed as he saw the young boy's body sag slightly.

"Pray that he does not find anything Dai…Now, about the other 'problem' Miss Yuhi is a ninja of Konoha, and as such, she is able to live with whoever she wants. Whether it is for a mission and she is protecting a client, or for personal reasons, it is not for the _Civilian _council to decide who a _ninja_ lives with. She does however need to sign a document."

At this, the Civilian council stood up in uproar about how she did no such thing.

"SILENCE!" He yelled, causing the room to become deathly quiet again, "Even though she has to sign a document to change her living situation, she has a week to do so, so therefore what she has done is within the law.

At this, Kurenai stood up and bowed "Thank you Hokage-sama. I have a request to make. I would have made it later today, but as we are in the council now, and I believe that we would be brought back, it seems fitting to ask now. To quote the Nara clan, it would be…Troublesome the other way."

"She's right you know." Came a voice from the ninja side, causing everyone's jaws to drop comically. Shikaku actually was awake?!

Shaking away his surprise, the Hokage smiled slightly, "What is your request Kurenai-san?"

Clearing her throat, she went on to say, "I believe Naruto should be allowed to join the ninja academy."

As she expected, there was uproar from the civilian side yet again.

"Why should the brat get a chance to get strong?"

"He'll kill us all!"

"Silence! All of you, or you will be taken to Ibiki for nearly breaking the law." All those who had spoken out shut their mouths immediately.

"He needs to learn how to defend himself Hokage-sama…He has been mistreated for too long and if only he could defend himself, he would no longer face such treatment. To be honest, if you do not allow him to join the academy, I will train the boy myself."

"You would go against my wishes Kurenai-san?" Hiruzen said in a low voice, causing the women to flinch slightly, however, she didn't back down.

"Yes, yes I would Hokage-sama. Please understand that it wouldn't be out of disrespect. The point is, the boy has been in probably more near death experiences than everyone in this room…Yourself included."

At this, the old man froze and thought about his time during the war. Had Naruto's life really been that bad? He was only seven for Kami's sake...

_If this is true…what has this village come to…_

"I would help her as well, Hokage-sama." Anko stood up and bowed apologetically.

"We have proof of the hardship that Naruto has gone through, and with his permission, we will show you."

"Very well Kurenai-san, Anko-san. After I see this evidence, I will give you my verdict, understood?"

His response was just a couple nods.

-== 10 Minutes Later ==-

A groan came from the young boy as Inoichi removed his hand from Naruto's head, turning slightly green in the process. He glared at the citizen side and looked at the Hokage.

"Everything is true." His voice was low, his disgust easy to hear.

At this, the room was filled with a screaming man being dragged away towards the interrogation and torture department. Anko smiled at the man as he was dragged by her and blew him a kiss.

"I'll see you soon." She added a wink to her sinister smile, causing some in the room to cringe, knowing the man's fate.

As the room settled down, Inoichi went on, "As for the recent attacks Hokage-sama, there have been…numerous attempts."

"Names?"

"I will begin writing them down now…"

Nodding, the old man looked towards Naruto, "I know the memory scan has made you a little tired Naruto, but can you please do something for us?"

Kurenai took over and helped Anko lift Naruto stand up, with a sad voice, she said, "Naruto, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but can you please remove your shirt."

He was about to question her, but then he saw the look in her eyes. She looked so said, as if she asked him to die for her.

Nodding slowly, he turned and slowly lifted his shirt to the eyes of the council. He heard the gasps and retches as he pulled his shirt up inch by inch. Crying could be heard from his left and that alarmed him.

_Anko-chan is crying?_

Hiruzen stood up as the fabric was taken away from Naruto's skin. When he saw the first scar, his entire body tensed. The first attack on Naruto had not been this bad…

His entire back was covered in angry white lines. Some were small, others went from his shoulder blades all the way to his lower back in a diagonal strike.

Anger began to fill the hokage's mind, dulling his senses. How could they…how could they do this to a child…

A soft hand touching his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Slowly, he turned his head, his killer intent flaring like crazy, nearly suffocating the ninja who had touched him.

"S-s-sir, the names…" A terrified Inoichi handed the scroll to him.

At this, Hiruzen flared his chakra and instantly, six Anbu were at his side, three on each side. They were the elite squad, only summoned for jobs of great importance.

Before they could even speak, they heard him whisper quietly.

"Every name…Every name on this list is to be held in the darkest cell we have until further notice. Am I clear?"

"Sir!" They left in a flash.

The two women at Naruto's side had never seen the amount of scars Naruto had. Now that they had, they did not want to do anything but hold him for deal life.

Clearing her throat and trying not to look at the boy's skin any longer, Kurenai looked towards the still seething Hokage.

"S-sir, *Ahem*" Choking back tears, "T-This is my evidence of the abuse put onto Naruto Uzumaki. This is why I ask you to allow him into the academy.

"Naruto-kun, please lower your shirt."

_Please…before I kill every person on that list myself…with a smile on my face._

"You will join the academy as soon as you can, which will be in one year. I trust there are no objections?" He looked towards the Civilian side. The pink haired woman was about to stand, but the amount of killer intent coming from every ninja in the room made her faint.

Smiling at her position, the Hokage suddenly came to a conclusion.

"On second thought…I have a much better idea."

At this, everyone in the small room froze at the sinister smile that Hiruzen now wore.

"Since you two seemed so inclined to tutor him in the ways of the ninja…It is now your…" He said, pointing to the two kunoichi on either side of the boy. "Duty to teach young Naruto-kun everything you can. Once you two deem it worthy, I will allow him to enter the academy."

Again, the entire room sat in stunned silence. Why was the Hokage entrusting Naruto to the two women?

Smiling even more, Hiruzen saw the look in Anko's and Kurenai's eyes, already knowing the answer.

"We thank you for this opportunity Hokage-sama."

"We will train him to the best of our ability."

Each woman said with a bow, causing Hiruzen's smile to widen.

_Never upset a woman…I have no doubt that Naruto will become stronger this way. If he just went into the academy next year, there is no doubt in my mind that some of the teachers would mess with his education. _

The old man took a drag from his pipe, letting the smoke come out from his lips, the entire room watching to see his next move.

_I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but this is the best that I can do for you right now. These two women will train you. After they are done with you…Watch out Konoha…_

"Very well then. Now that, that is settled, I understand that you had a request as well Anko-san?"

Said kunoichi stood and nodded, "Sir, I have no place to stay…And since it may be beneficial for us all to live under the same roof, I ask that Kurenai, Naruto, and myself be able to move to a bigger house. I also would like to ask to resign from Anbu."

Hiruzen sighed quietly and chuckled, "Well of course Anko-san! I mean, you would not really be able to train him if you were to be on Anbu missions all the time."

The woman sat stunned, she had expected the old man to ask her to stay in Anbu, but here he was smiling and welcoming the fact that she wanted to leave.

_It's about time things started looking up for the boy…_ Hiruzen smiled as he pretended to sigh.

"While it is a great loss to me…I will allow it. You and Kurenai Yuhi are now considered the boy's caretakers. Guard him well ladies, your house will be ready for you in one week's time."

They all bowed in thanks and were dismissed from the room.

The fox smiled at hearing everything, thanking Kami herself that someone was finally taking care of her Naruto. She just wished that she could be the one on the outside taking care of him…

"**Take care of him you two...Or so help me, I _will_ get out of here...and I'll show those bastards what a _real_ demon can do..."  
**

* * *

**A/N: Well there you go, like i said, i hope that it was worth the wait. If not, i apologize. I'll continue writing as soon as life allows. As for the jutsu's in the story...I feel that it is better to have them in english. Most of us that read these stories don't skip over the jutsu if it is written in japanese because we dont know what it says...Well at least i skip over jutsu's lol As long as i know what they do, i skip them.  
**

**That is why i am going to make jutsu's in english so you can understand what they are. I know that the japanese jutsu's would probably flow better, but to me, i prefer the English version. If i get enough requests for it, i will convert the jutsu's if one can give me a website to do so.  
**

******As always, rate and review!**  


******Again, thanks a lot for the help! If you guys see anything like your fellow reviewer did, please don't hesitate to tell me! Until then, FNG out  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto:** I don't know Andrew-san...This seems pretty cliche doesn't it?

**FNG: **So what? It's my story, and i think this is much better than long Author's notes, dont you?

**Naruto: **Still...Cliche in my opinion...

**FNG: **Wait, you're seven, how do you know what cliche means -.-

**Kurenai/Anko:** Sensei's remember?

**FNG: **Right...Anyway, who wants to do the disclaimer?

**Naruto: **Andrew-san does not own me!

**Anko: **He doesn't own me either...But he can if he wants *winks*

**Kurenai: ***Slaps Anko* Look what you did...*points to the author on the floor with blood flowing from his nose, giggling perversely*

* * *

**Chapter Three**

And So It Begins

* * *

Naruto sat down in the kitchen, literally bouncing in anticipation. Kurenai had told him she had a gift for him, it would also help him become a ninja, so naturally he was as excited as a kid could be.

Currently, she was upstairs looking for it in her room. As he waited, the fox decided to play a game with him, it also decided to try to tell Naruto its secret.

"**Ok little one, let's see…I'm big, furry, extremely clever, I love pulling pranks on people and I love my precious people. What am I?"**

The young boy thought for a second and smiled widely.

_You're me!_

At this, the fox would have face palmed but decided against it, being hit with a giant claw the size of a mansion hurt like hell…even if it was your own.

"**Naruto-kun, you aren't fuzzy, but you are clever and I know you love your precious people. Guess again."**

_Um…_

Naruto thought about all the things the voice could be and then snapped his fingers.

_I know! You're a fox!_

_**Close enough…**_

"**Good job kit! You got it."**

Naruto beamed with pride at beating the voice and was about to take his turn until he heard her voice.

"Naruto-kun, come here I found-"

Instantly, she stopped speaking as she saw the small child in front of her, "It?" Kurenai finished.

_How did he get up here so fast...Wasn't he down in the kitchen?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the little boy bowing in front of her slightly.

"Kurenai-chan, may I please have my gift?"

At this, she smiled widely, impressed by his politeness. The fox also felt pride in the boy, as he had listened to everything she had said to do.

Kurenai held out a small red book for the boy and Naruto stared at it intently. Taking it from her, he opened it and saw that there were tiny stick figures in different positions. Some looked like they were sitting down and meditating, while others seemed to be fighting each other.

The colors were definitely interesting to him. The fingers themselves were a different array of colors, blue, red, green, yellow, and brown. The pages themselves were a gold color and Naruto decided that he liked the book very much.

"What is it?" He said, his fingers moving over each of the pictures.

"It's a book that will teach you the basics of becoming a ninja. See these pictures?" She showed him pictures of stick figures breaking things, lighting things on fire, and even slicing some things in half.

"Cool!"

"That's only part of it Naruto…Watch." She said, her smile getting wider, she knew he would love this next part.

Placing her fingers onto the book, she began to channel some chakra into the book. Instantly, the pictures in the book became small animations, showing the reader how to do the exercises before starting the animation again.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the tiny stick figures fighting each other with a complicated mix of different techniques.

"AWESOME!" He yelled, his body shaking, "How did you do that?!"

Kurenai giggled and poked his forehead lightly.

"You read first silly," Seeing the look on her face, she realized her mistake. "You don't know how to read do you Naruto-kun?"

He shook his head slowly and hung it low. She hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead, causing him to blush.

"I'll teach you Naruto-kun."

_Why did I kiss him?_

"Let's begin." She patted the bed next to her and she began to read slowly so the boy would understand.

-== Two Hours Later ==-

"Ok let's see if you were paying attention Naruto-kun, what did we learn?"

Holding his small chin, Naruto did his best impression of "The Thinker".

"Well…Chakra is the 'life force' of the body. Everyone has it, although, most people don't know how to access it. Ninja, and some warriors, have learned how to tap into it and because of that fact, are able to become stronger, faster, and do different tricks."

"Tricks?"

"Sorry Kurenai-chan, I forgot, jutsu." Seeing the nod he got from her, he went on, "Different people have different levels of chakra, the higher your reserves, the more control you need to perform different jutsu, otherwise, you might lack the power, or you might use too much and hurt yourself."

"Good, now please tell me about the different colors in the book."

"Um…I'm sorry Nai-chan…I can't remember." He hung his head slightly.

She giggled at his behavior, "In all honesty Naruto, I'm surprised that you remembered that much. You're still just a kid, yet you remembered quite a bit." She opened the book to the correct page. On it, was a small circle with different colored circles around the ring, each with different colors.

"Each color in this book is special. Here it goes in order." She placed her finger on the top circle which was red.

"This is fire. The green circle is wind, lighting is yellow, earth is brown, and water is blue. The reason there are different elements is because each person has their own elemental affinity, meaning, each person has a certain way they can use their chakra."

"So a person can only learn one type of jutsu?"

Giggling again, Kurenai shook her head slightly, "No Naruto-kun, just because a person has only one affinity, doesn't mean they can't learn more jutsu. A person can actually have split affinities, such as one of the hokages themselves. He had water and an earth affinity, allowing him to use wood jutsu."

"Wow cool! How do people know what element they are?"

"Well they would usually use a special kind of paper, but I have something different."

Moving over to her closet, she rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. She held it up for him to see, it was a small ball, no bigger than a baseball.

"This is something that Anko and I made when we were fifteen and were prone to experimenting The Hokage said that it was very innovative and that it would bring about new ways to teach students."

"What is it?" The boy said as he eyed the ball, wondering how something so small could change things.

"You didn't let me finish. This ball tells the person what their elemental affinity is, as well as how much chakra they have. I'll show you."

Naruto watched as Kurenai stared at the ball and was about to ask what she was doing, until a small glow started to come from the ball. The ball glowed a dark red at first, and after a few more seconds, the light grew brighter and brighter until it resembled a small red light bulb.

The boy was speechless and was barely able to hear the woman as she spoke, "The color indicates what your affinity is, while the brightness of the light tells you how much chakra you have. Currently, I have low jonin level chakra reserves, and my affinity is fire, which is very common as we are in the fire country. However, a person of my age usually doesn't have this much chakra." She said proudly.

"Anko-chan is also a fire user, as hers is also red, however, hers glows much more brightly than mine." She said, her proud tone fading a bit.

"Don't worry Kurenai-chan, I'm sure you'll get more chakra as you get older." The boy smiled his infectious smile and held his hand out. "Can I try please?"

"Oh sure Naruto-kun, you do know how to channel chakra right?" She stuck her tongue out a bit as she knew he didn't know how.

Her point was proven as Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed a bit.

"Good point, I have no clue haha."

"Let me teach you how to channel your chakra and then we'll test it out once Ko-chan comes home. Sound like a plan?"

"Alright!"

-== Later That Night ==-

Naruto and Kurenai sat at the kitchen table and were quietly munching on some cookies she had baked. She still held the small red book and was teaching Naruto about all the different types of fighting. She had told him earlier that she excelled in genjutsu, which disrupted the flow of chakra to the brain, causing the victim to see illusions.

Their lesson was interrupted by the front door opening, "Nai-chan, Naru-kun, I'm h- oof."

Her greeting was interrupted by the small boy hugging her for dear life, "Welcome home Anko-chan!"

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and smiled, "Hello you two, whatcha doing? Ah, you must be starting his lessons already. Couldn't wait for little ole me?" She crossed her arms and pouted cutely.

"We did wait for you Anko-chan! We were waiting to see what my elemental affinity is."

Smiling, Anko sat down and watched as Kurenai handed him the small black ball.

Naruto concentrated and stared at the ball. He tried forcing as much chakra as he could into it to try to impress the two women sitting in front of him. At first, nothing happened and he stared at the two women and frowned, that is, until he saw Anko and Kurenai's eyes to widen.

His eyes darted back to the ball and he noticed it was a dark green.

_Wind? Why am I not fire like they are?_

He focused harder and forced more into it. Instantly, the ball turned a bright lime green, becoming as bright as Kurenai's had been earlier that day. After a few more seconds, the ball grew brighter and brighter until it turned completely white, blinding everyone in the room.

As fast as it came, the white light vanished, leaving the room silent and awestruck.

Kurenai and Anko stared at the boy and then their eyes shifted towards his hand. Where the small ball had been, there was now a small pile of pebbles in the boy's hand.

"H-he broke it…" Anko said, her voice shaking as she looked towards her friend.

Kurenai's eyes were wide as she sat frozen, staring at the pile.

_I-impossible. T-that was the strongest detection material out there! Not even the Hokage broke it when he tried…Although it was bright as hell._

Kurenai grimaced as she remembered how bright his attempt had been.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the boy in front of her. He had seen the grimace she had made and guessed that she was angry at him.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, maybe I can fix it?" The boy sat at the table and tried in vain to put the small pebbles together.

_Where did he get the glue from? _Both women thought as they saw the small boy put the pieces together.

When he was done, he held a small ball in his hand and smiled nervously, "See? All better!"

Suddenly, the ball disintegrated, causing the boy to hang his head.

"Sorry…"

The room fell into an awkward silence as the women again looked at the small fragments in Naruto's hand.

It was Anko who broke this silence, as she literally launched herself at the boy, hugging him for dear life.

"I'm so proud of you!"

"W-what?" To say the boy was confused would definitely be an understatement.

"Not only do you have wind, which is extremely rare, you also have a higher chakra reserve than the Hokage himself…"

Kurenai took over and smiled towards the boy, "Not even Hiruzen-sama could break that ball Naruto-kun. This means, with proper training, you could easily surpass the Hokage and become the strongest shinobi in this village."

Anko nodded quickly and hugged him tighter. She then held him at arms length and hardened her facial features.

"The key words are 'with proper training' meaning no free rides to get stronger. You will train, and you will train hard. We will train you personally."

At this, a strange aura became noticeable around both Kurenai and Anko. Naruto looked at her in fear as he saw the sadistic smile cross her face.

_Kami she's scary…_

"Yes Naru-kun, we'll tort-*ahem* train you just how we were trained." Kurenai gave him a sickly sweet smile and spoke in a quiet voice, both of which did nothing to hide the aura surrounding her.

Both women began to laugh quietly and Naruto could have sworn he heard thunderclaps in the background and see lightning strikes around them, even if they were indoors.

_Correction…They're both scary…_

"**Agreed…Well, good luck with that kit."**

-== Later, At Dinner ==-

"We'll begin your training soon Naruto-kun. That way you'll be able to protect yourself."

Naruto shook his head at this immediately, "I don't want to protect myself Nai-chan, I want to protect those that are precious to me, meaning the old man, you, and Anko-chan."

Anko and Kurenai gasped at this and then smiled at the boy's antics.

"Worry about yourself first Naruto-kun. If you're hurt, then who will protect us." Kurenai asked jokingly.

Without the slightest moment of hesitation, he said, "Even if I'm hurt, I'll still protect you. I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I would give my life for you two if I needed to."

Both women's smiles left their faces. Here was a seven year old, saying that he would give his life if he had to save them. Anko reached over and slapped Naruto on the head lightly.

"Baka! Don't speak like that, there will be no dying here do you understand me? Now you better promise me or I swear I'll make your training five times as hard!."

"H-hai Anko-chan, I'm sorry, I promise I wont die if I can help it. However, I don't take what I said back, if I need to die to keep you safe I would do it with a smile on my face."

The women were about to argue with the boy until they saw him yawn quietly, his mouth opening widely and his hand moving to his eye to rub it lightly.

Both women scowled and tried to harden themselves.

_Kami…He's so cute! No, bad Anko, you're supposed to be angry at him._

_This is so unfair…look at him…so cute…No! Bad Kurenai, be angry, be angry._

Naruto yawned again and squeaked at the end of it lightly.

Both women couldn't help it anymore, they hugged him and shouted, "KAWAII!"

Anko looked at the woman next to her, "Kurenai-chan, can I put him to bed this time? You did it last time."

Kurenai pouted and looked away.

"Awwwwwww please?" She heard Anko say as Naruto let out another tiny yawn, letting out another small whine afterwards.

_Damn he's cute…must…stay…strong!_

She looked over at Anko and saw that she had put the puppy dog eyes jutsu into full effect. Her eyes were almost as big as her face and were watering slightly, her lip quivering slightly.

"Anko-chan not the face…"

This only made Anko add more chakra to the jutsu, adding little tears to start coming down her cheeks.

"You know that wont work…"

"Pweeze Nai-chan?" Anko said in a childish voice.

_Dammit!_

"Ugh fine…But we're still wake early to get new clothes. He needs more than just one pair."

"Yatta!" Anko screamed as she scooped up Naruto as if he were a stuffed animal and brought him upstairs, cuddling with him all the time.

Kurenai checked to make sure Anko was upstairs and moved to wash the dishes.

"*Sigh* Lucky bitch…"

Suddenly, Anko's head popped into the doorway, "What was that Nai-chan?"

Kurenai dropped her plate into the sink in surprise before picking it up and scrubbing it comically, "N-nothing Anko-chan, night night Naruto!" She said nervously.

"Night night…" Naruto mumbled and nuzzled his face into Anko's shoulder.

_Fucking lucky bitch…_

A few minutes later, Anko came downstairs and literally skipped into the kitchen.

"Enjoy yourself?"

"Yep!" Anko smiled and stuck out her tongue a little bit at her friend.

-== Later that night ==-

"No…Please…"

Kurenai's eyes snapped open as she heard the voice.

"Don't…"

Instantly, Kurenai was at Naruto's door, followed by Anko. They walked into the room and saw the small boy thrashing around in the bed, tears falling down his face.

Both women rushed in to help him and tried to wake him from his obvious nightmare but were unable to. They watched helplessly as Naruto began to cry quietly and both felt helpless.

The fox also felt this helpless feeling as it couldn't help against Naruto's nightmares. The seal was too strong and kept it from influencing the young child's dream.

The two women hung their heads in shame at not being able to help the boy. Suddenly, Anko walked over to the bed and climbed into it, wrapping her arm around his small frame.

"What are you doing?" Kurenai asked while standing next to the bed.

"He needs our help Nai-chan…This is the best I can do."

Kurenai looked at the boy and saw that his thrashing had slowed slightly and he wasn't crying as hard. Smiling, she got into the bed as well and wrapped her arm around him.

The fox watched this and thanked the two women for helping the poor boy. Slowly, she began to feed her chakra into the boy's body, trying to soothe him.

-== An Hour Later ==-

The two women watched as the child's chest rose and fell slowly with each breath he took. They sighed quietly and looked at each other, nodding.

They had wordlessly agreed to not leave Naruto alone that night, and to sleep in his bed with him. Each woman gave small kisses on the boy's cheek, kissing each whisker mark lightly, making the boy smile in his sleep.

The women snuggled closer against the boy and refused to move an inch away from him. Unconsciously, his arms wrapped around both of them.

"Good night Naru-kun." They said together as they placed one last kiss on his cheeks.

"We love you…"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry folks, couldn't help myself. I'm going through a few hardships as you all know so i could use a good laugh :P Even if its at my expense. Not much change to this chapter other than the end. Hope you guys liked it! Rate and review please.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello all! I'm terribly sorry for your wait! I'm in such a happy mood, all of my bills are up to date, Laura is doing much better, and now i have a lo more time to write for you guys. As some of you know, i have posted a new story by the name of "What Should Have Been" I hope you go and check it out.**

**Shout out to Naruhana, thanks for the idea for the story!**

**If anyone else has any requests for any pairings let me know and i'll write them asap! Sorry though, no yaoi =/**

**Anyway, hope you guys like the story. Sorry for the short chapter, however, i wanted to let you know that i was still alive and kickin.**

**Disclaimer: **Who here owns Naruto? Not me :( YOU THERE, yes you,with your hand in the air. Shame on you.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

A Whole New Look

* * *

"Naruto-kun…"

"Mm…five more minutes…" The young blonde turned over and snuggled more into his blankets

"Come on Naruto-kun…"

"Mm…sleepy…"

At that, the sweet tone Anko had been using disappeared and her right eyebrow began to twitch slightly.

"…TIME TO GET UP!"

With that, she grabbed hold of the mattress and flipped it, along with the boy.

"GAH!"

*_Thud*_

"Time to get up gaki. Nai-chan made you some food, and did you forget that we're supposed to get you new clothes today?"

Naruto replied with a groan, the mattress still on top of him, "I'll be right down Anko…Thank you…"

"No problem Naruto-kun." She smiled and stuck her tongue out slightly, the sweet tone returning.

Naruto raised himself slowly from the floor, his sore body making him groan.

"Women are crazy…"

At this, Anko's head popped into the doorway, a sickly sweet smile on her face, "What was that Naruto-kun?"

"Gah! N-nothing Anko-chan! I'll be right down ahehe" He said, his hand scratching the back of his head nervously, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Well hurry up then!" she said, her head vanishing from the doorway.

Sighing, the young boy finished putting on his "clothes".

_How does she do that…?_

Shrugging, the boy pulled on his sandal and made his way down the stairs. As he was going down, he heard the voices coming from the breakfast table.

"I really hope that it doesn't happen again tonight Ko-chan…I mean it, I feel bad for the poor boy."

After she said this, he could hear the other woman in question sigh quietly.

"Yea…I completely agree with you, although I don't mind sleeping with him. He's like the perfect teddy bear! He even squeezes back."

Naruto blushed a very deep red at being called a teddy. The fox inside of him was laughing her ass off, remembering to tease him about this later.

"I know what you mean Anko; I had to pry him off this morning, who knew the boy had it in him! Isn't that right Naruto-kun?"

The boy froze outside the kitchen doorway and held his breath.

"You might as well come on in gaki, or else your food will get cold."

Sighing, Naruto made his way into the kitchen and saw the two women he loved sitting at the table. Kurenai was sipping her tea quietly and Anko held a stick of dango in her hand, one ball left.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop Naruto-kun, you know that don't you?"

At this, the boy cocked his head to the side and scratched his chin with his index finger.

"B-but Kurenai-chan…isn't that our job? I mean, as a ninja, we should be able to listen in on the enemy at the very least. Right?"

The two women looked at each other and smiled proudly. Even though he was only seven years old, he could still be very grown up at times.

"By the way, thank you for sleeping with me last night. I haven't slept that well in a long time. I hate to ask this of you two…but do you think we could sleep together more?"

Anko stopped mid-chew and smiled devilishly at the young blonde.

"My, my, Kurenai, we seem to have a little charmer on our hands…He wants to sleep with two women every night. Maybe next time I'll sleep how I normally do."

She said the last part with a wink, causing her friend to spit out the tea she had been drinking, a coughing fit following soon after. Kurenai knew how Anko had liked to sleep…Normally it was in nothing but her birthday suit. As Kurenai began to cough, Naruto ran behind her and started to pat her on the back gently, trying to get her to breathe again.

Anko giggled at their antics and pushed the last ball of her favorite treat into her mouth. As she did this, Naruto looked over at her, still patting Kurenai on the back.

"You can wear whatever you want Anko-chan! I'm sure you'll look great, would you mind showing me tonight?"

"Mmf!"

Anko loved dango, and thus refused to spit it out like Kurenai had done. Therefore, she was currently choking on it.

_H-he wants to see what?! No! Seven years old…Seven years old!_

Naruto frantically began to slap Anko on the back as she started to turn blue. Reluctantly, Anko let the treat fall out of her mouth in order to breathe. As she gasped for breath, her friend had finished recovering.

"A-anyway, Naruto-kun, are you all ready to shop? How many pairs of clothing do you want?" Kurenai said as she wiped her mouth slowly with a napkin.

Anko stared at the piece of dango on the floor. She was seriously contemplating on picking it up when they weren't looking…She then realized that it wasn't the right thing to do and began to tear softly.

"*Sniffle* Yes Naruto-kun…*Sniffle* how many?"

Anko couldn't help herself…Her precious dango lay on the floor. She mentally slapped herself as she came to the conclusion that she had deserved it. Trying to prank the boy in front of her had completely backfired.

Naruto let his jaw drop slightly at hearing the two women.

"What do you mean how many? I-I don't know…I've only ever had one pair at a time, sometimes not even that." Suddenly, his eyes widened and had small yellow stars in them.

"Does that mean we get to go ninja tool shopping too?!"

Both women smiled and shook their heads slowly.

"Sorry gaki, you're too young to deal with those yet. You'll have to work with wooden ones first. Which I have for you right here."

Anko moved her hand behind her back and pulled out a small package, handing it to the boy. Naruto, who had been slightly depressed at not being able to use real ones, smiled widely when he realized he had a gift.

Taking the box from the woman, he opened it and peered inside. There were 10 kunai knives and twenty shuriken stars. He pouted cutely when he found that all of their edges had been rounded.

His pout disappeared though as he looked at the purple haired woman.

"Thank you! I love them, I'll be sure to practice very hard. Where did you get them?"

Anko smiled and looked towards the other woman.

"Nai-chan and I carved them ourselves."

The blonde boy turned towards the raven haired woman and launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around the two women.

"Thank you, Thank you!"

Both Kurenai and Anko chuckled at the boy's antics. Looking at the clock on the wall, Kurenai patted Naruto on the back gently.

"Honey, we have to get going, don't you want your new-"

Instantly, Naruto vanished. Both women sat dumbfounded, confused as to where the young ball of energy disappeared to.

_Fast! _They both thought. Their thoughts were broken however, as they heard the young boy calling from the end of their walkway.

"Come on then! What are we waiting for?!"

-== At the Store ==-

After they had arrived at the store, Kurenai had allowed the young boy to move throughout the aisles. Anko looked nervously towards her friend.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to let him shop by himself?...I mean, he's only seven…What if he looks like a clown?"

Kurenai smiled and looked towards her, "I don't think you should be talking about what clothes he wears Anko-chan…seeing as you don't wear any."

Anko pouted cutely, standing up straight, "Hey! I wear clothes!"

"Sorry Ko-chan…A fishnet shirt doesn't count as clothing."

Anko held her coat open for the woman in front of her, "What about this coat! Or my skirt?!"

Giggling, Kurenai pointed towards Anko's chest, "Is it cold Anko?"

After she said this, the former Anbu looked down and saw that her nipples were indeed able to be seen, "Eep! Ok, I admit, that wasn't supposed to happen. I just like being free Nai-chan!"

The raven haired woman waved her hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, I understand Anko. Even I lose my pants for shorts occasionally."

Anko was about to retort when a young boy's voice caught their attention.

"Anko-chan! Kurenai-chan! I found the perfect outfits!"

At this, the two women turned their heads towards the boy. In his hands were two different outfits. One, was a completely orange jumpsuit, complete with blue trim. The other was a green spandex suit, complete with leg warmers and bandages for his wrists.

There was a _very_ awkward silence going throughout the store. The women were definitely torn. They absolutely _hated_ the outfits he chose, they just didn't want to break the little boy's heart.

_Kami…who would wear that stuff…_

Seeing their faces in turmoil, the little blonde couldn't help himself and began to break out in laughter.

"Oh Kami, you should see the look on your faces! Who the heck would wear stuff like this?!"

Smiling his foxy grin, the boy threw the two outfits over each of his shoulders, causing the women to exhale in relief, only to have their breath caught in their throats when they saw what he was really wearing.

The boy in front of them now wore a simple black with enough pockets to hold all sorts of scrolls. Under that, he wore a deep red hooded sweater. On his legs were a pair of black cargo pants with many different pockets and on his feet were a pair of simple black shoes. (**A/N: **Think of Vans, or a different style skater shoe)

As the women stared at him, he smiled nervously, "Aheh, yea I didn't know what they were either, but they're comfortable as hell!" He said, indicating his shoes.

The women looked at him and then at the accessories he had chosen for his new attire. They saw the black headband on his head and saw how the left over fabric went down to the middle of his back. On his hands, he wore white gloves that covered his fingers as well. On the back of them, was a small metal plate with the Konoha leaf on it.

Kurenai and Anko clapped for the blonde at his choice of clothing, smiling as he did a small bow to show off. Suddenly, he shot up and looked at both women.

"Wait…How are we going to pay for this?..."

The women smiled and waved their hands dismissively, "The Hokage mentioned something about a housewarming gift…"

"Yatta!" The little blonde boy smiled as he jumped in the air. Quickly, he ran back to grab more clothing.

-== At the Hokage's Tower ==-

Hiruzen suddenly shuddered. Standing up, he walked towards the window in his office and took out his wallet.

Staring at it, he couldn't shake this feeling.

"I-I feel a disturbance…"

-== A Day of Shopping Later ==-

Naruto sighed quietly as he stood still. Currently, the two women he had come to live with were inspecting him. Their bodies disappeared and reappeared at different angles around him. Finally, they stopped, smiled, and attacked him.

"Gah!"

They wrapped their arms around him and rubbed their cheeks against his, causing him to blush slightly.

"W-what are you two doing?!"

At this, both women smiled and continued to rub themselves against his cheeks.

"We're just so proud of you gaki! You had no idea how scared we were when we saw those…Abominations…"

Anko shuddered slightly, followed by Kurenai.

"Yes Naruto-kun…I didn't know which one was worse…Never joke like that again!"

Smiling slightly, the boy hugged the two women and kissed each on their cheeks, causing them to blush slightly at his forwardness.

"Sorry! I just couldn't help it…"

Sighing, the women pulled away completely, making the poor boy pout.

"Either way! Now, its time to start your torture."

Naruto's head tilted to the side slightly, "Don't you mean training Anko-chan?"

Smirking evilly, Anko and Kurenai shook their heads slowly, causing the boy to sweat slightly.

"No, no Naruto-kun, we mean torture…Especially on Anko's end. I'll be teaching you about chakra control and genjutsu."

"And you'll learn taijutsu, ninjutsu, and different physical training from me gaki."

Cowering slightly, the boy began to back up towards the front door to try to run away.

"P-please…can we at least think about this?"

Suddenly, the smirks the women wore disappeared. The each stood up straight and tilted their heads to the side, placing their index finger on their chins.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

Anko smiled sweetly and suddenly grabbed the blonde's hand.

"Thinking time is over gaki, training begins now." She said as she began to drag the poor boy outside.

Naruto tried frantically to get away from the sadistic woman, his hands clawing the ground slightly. When they got to the door, he held onto the frame for dear life. He had seen the look Anko had given him, and he didn't like it one bit!

"Gah! K-Kurenai-chan! Help me please!" Naruto said in a pleading voice to the other woman.

Said woman walked over to him slowly, placing her hand on his hand that was gripping the doorframe.

"Have fun…Naruto-kun." She smiled and suddenly tore his fingers from the frame.

Eyes widening in shock, the boy began clawing at the air as his one point of leverage was lost.

"No! A-Anko-chan…Please be gentle?..."

"Not a chance in hell gaki."

-== Later That Night ==-

Naruto limped slowly towards his bed, groaning with every step. The fox inside him giggled quietly as he flopped down onto the bed. As his head hit the pillow, the tired boy let out a sigh.

"Who *pant* knew Anko *pant* was a slave driver?" He managed to say quietly.

Smiling at this, the fox concentrated and a small figure of Naruto appeared in front of her human form. She knelt down next to him and began massaging every sore limb and muscle.

In reality, she was just moving her chakra throughout his body, but she liked to think that she was actually getting to touch the boy, like the two women on the outside.

As Naruto's body began to relax, he groaned quietly in thanks.

_Nnh…Thank you…That feels really nice._

He could hear her giggle and he smiled to himself.

_You have a really nice laugh err…wow…_

"**What is it Naruto-kun?"**

_It's just…well we've talked for who knows how long…And I don't even know your name. You do have a name, don't you?_

At this, her giggling became a little louder.

"**My name is Katsumi Naruto-kun."**

Thinking for a moment, Naruto lifted his head slightly.

_Doesn't that mean…Victorious beauty? Heh…Figures, you have a beautiful laugh, you might as well have a beautiful name._

Suddenly, her hands stopped their movements, only to resume a few seconds later.

"**Y-you think I have a beautiful name?..."** she said as she subconsciously let out more potent chakra, making the boy feel even warmer.

_Of course Katsumi-chan, you have a wonderful name. I have to ask though, how do you make me feel so warm and comfortable?_

Smiling, the fox rubbed a knot out of the boy's back, causing him to groan loudly.

"**Well, my chakra is infused with yours Naruto-kun, so if I wanted to heal you, it would be just as if I wanted to heal myself."**

Naruto nodded and came to a conclusion.

_So you're just like a medical ninja?_

"**I guess you could say that, more like I'm your guardian Kit."**

Smiling slightly, Naruto felt the warmth take over his body and felt his eyelids begin to droop.

_I see…So I have…A guardian…Angel…_As he thought the last word, his eyes finally closed and he fell into blissful sleep.

Katsumi's eyes widened slightly and she smiled sadly. As she continued to work on her containers sore muscles, she couldn't help but let a small tear fall onto his back.

_**He called me an angel…If only he knew what I really was. He will find out eventually…What will happen then?**_

She sighed quietly and kissed the boy's head softly, earning a quiet moan from the boy. Smiling, she began to run her fingers through his hair lovingly, all the while humming quietly.

"**I hope you'll be able to forgive me one day Naruto-kun…"**

* * *

**A/N: So guys, i know you dont think there is much of a change, but hopefully you can see i'm trying! I can tell you all now, that when Naruto finally gets his weapon of choice, it wil be completely different than it was before. Hopefully it will be original, or at the very least, uncommon.**

**I have a secret to tell all of you about us authors. Many will say that i'm lying, but we are all review whores :( yes its true, each and every author on this site loves to get reviews. So please, help me wth my fix and send me some reviews people!**

**I want to know what you like, love, dislike, hate, i want to know it all. Until then, send me some requests if you have any, send them in a pm though so they are a surprise from the public.**

**I'll see you guys at my next chapter update! Believe it! Oh god no! Its contagious! NOOOOOOOOO**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well helllllloooo there! I'm glad you clicked on my story yet again! As a thank you to all those viewers out there, i have decided to post this super long chapter! Hopefully it all works out.  
**

**Also, in this chapter there is a "fight" scene, that i hope you will like. If it didn't flow well, just tell me, i can take it!  
**

**Shout out to DeltaBlackNaruto: I'm glad you like my stories mate! As to our little friend, well...We'll see now wont we?  
**

**To the rest of you...Please review :( the more reviews i get, the more i'll post :D Evil, i know :D ENJOY  
**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

The Fox's New Tricks

* * *

"**Time to wake up Naruto, you need to train remember?"**

Opening his eyes, he looked around, only to see his room. He chuckled to himself as he realized his mistake of looking for the woman responsible for waking him.

_Good morning Katsumi. How are you doing this morning? _He rubbed his eyes slowly and sat up, yawning quietly.

"**I am doing well. Of course I would be better if you didn't insist on continuing that damned water walking exercise. You're going to get sick if you keep falling in."**

_Yes "Mother". _She scowled at this. _But I had to; I've almost got it down. Thank you for helping me fix my chakra by the way, I guess I still need work on the stupid control._

Standing up, he pulled on his shirt and pants. He was glad that he had not chosen shorts that day. They would have been a real hassle, considering that, even with pants, he still got cuts and scrapes from running through the branches around Konoha.

He then pulled on his shoes slowly, making sure they were tightly tied. He loved wearing shoes and had bought three more pairs. Jumping up and down, he moved from one foot to the other, trying to get the movement down right. The only drawback to wearing shoes was the fact that sometimes they didn't allow for the same movement as the sandals would have, but they did offer more protection from insects and twigs and whatnot.

He moved over to his full body mirror and adjusted his headband to keep his hair out of his eyes. His hair was a little longer now, the spikes drooping slightly instead of standing straight up, moving his fingers through it lightly and smiled, he thought he looked good. A twinkle of bright red light caught his eye and he smiled widely as he saw what it was from.

-== Flashback ==-

"Naruto-kun?" She called up the stairs quietly, hearing him doing his physical exercises. "Can you come here please?"

Stopping mid sit up, Naruto moved towards his doorway, a towel around his neck.

"Coming Kurenai!" Wiping his head to get rid of the sweat, he walked to the stairs and saw her. She looked different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the smile on her face made him smile as well.

Slowly going down the stairs, he heard a quiet whisper from the kitchen. He cocked his head to the side as he saw Kurenai's eyes widen suddenly.

"U-uh hold on Naruto-kun." She said, holding her hands up slightly, making him stop in the middle of the stairs.

"Is something wrong? Why did you call me?"

Nervously, she waved her hands side to side as she laughed.

"Hehe um, well you see…the thing is."

"Ok Kurenai, ready now."

He heard the quiet whisper coming from the kitchen, the light was off now but there was a small orange glow coming from it.

"Oh thank Kami." She whispered as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Come on now Naruto, sorry for the wait."

It was then that Naruto finally found what was different about her he smiled widely, "You got a new dress, didn't you Kurenai-chan?" he said, looking at her new attire.

She blushed slightly and nodded, doing a little twirl to show off a little. "It's not a dress really, a dress would be too hard to do missions in, so I made this shorter, although I think I made it a little too short." Her hands moved down the length of her body, smoothing out her new clothes. Her real reason for getting the dress, however, was due to the fact that today was a very special day in her eyes and she wanted to look nice, but she had to admit that the new attire would actually work on having to do missions.

She now wore a smaller dress, almost like her old kimono, except that this one went down to her mid-thigh and stopped. It was missing one sleeve, the left one, and Naruto could now see the fishnet armor from the side when she twirled. Her right arm had its sleeve and was rather long, hiding her hand completely as the fabric went past her hand, hiding it from view. Naruto figured it was so she could hide some sort of weapon if needed.

She also now wore her hair in a pony tail, her bangs framing her face nicely as her hair was tied back with a red ribbon. Her heeled sandals were now wrapped around her leg up to her knee where it stopped.

"Wow, you look beautiful Kurenai-chan! I don't know why I didn't notice before. I'm sure that will work great on missions." He walked down the stairs and stood in front of her.

She couldn't help but blush at his compliment, she may have been older than he was, but what woman doesn't like being complimented?

Shaking her head to clear it, she moved to the side of the stairs.

"Close your eyes Naruto; we have a surprise for you." Her right arm motioned to the orange glow from the kitchen.

Complying, Naruto closed his eyes and allowed Kurenai to lead him slowly to the kitchen. He heard shuffling as she moved to go in front of him and heard whispers.

"Ok Naruto, you can open them now." He heard another voice say.

He smiled as he heard Anko's voice.

Opening his eyes quickly he was stunned. There, in front of him, was a cake, and surrounding it were 8 candles in the shape of kunai. The cake itself was in the shape of a small red fox, its tail wrapped around its body and its head resting on it.

Speechless, Naruto just stared. His eyes shifting from the cake, to Kurenai, and then to the smiling Anko, who was still covered in frosting and flour.

"Did you make this?"

She nodded quickly, her smile wide and proud.

Again he was dumbfounded, not only had Anko cooked something for him, but it looked…Well…Edible! He hated to admit it, but Anko was a terrible cook. He still shuddered whenever he remembered her cooking one time...

_I didn't know that you could burn a pot…by trying to boil water…._

However, as he looked at the cake in front of him, he could tell that it had taken her many hours to make it look extremely lifelike. He smiled as he stared at the women in front of him. Both were absolutely beautiful, as he told them every day. Even the woman that was covered from head to toe in flour, frosting, and food coloring she had used to paint the cake.

Of course he would never admit this to them, but he had developed somewhat of a boyish crush on the two women, and who could blame him? Living in a house with two beautiful, powerful women, was every man's dream.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the fox in his head speak.

"**Look Naruto-kun…" **She couldn't believe the amount of work they had done for the boy. Katsumi couldn't help but feel a little jealousy towards the boy, for being able to do so much for him, while she could do nothing.

Naruto's eyes drifted towards the end of the cake as he realized he had missed something.

In its mouth was a small card made of candy, it read: _Happy Birthday Naruto! Our cunning little fox. Love, Anko and Kurenai._ With a small heart at the end of the card.

He smiled at this as tears of joy came to his eyes. _Our little fox huh…_he smiled because of the fact that everyone around town seemed to call him a fox. To him, it didn't really matter, as he figured it meant it was because he had done a prank on everyone in the entire village, even the old man himself.

He looked at the two women in front of him; each had lost their smile as they saw the tears in his eyes. They were confused as to why he was smiling, yet seemed ready to cry.

"D-Do you not like it?" Anko said sadly as she mentally berated herself for trying to cook. "I-I could try to make something el-"

"Thank you…" he said and walked up to them, wrapping his arms around each of them, not wanting to let go.

For the first time in his life, the one day that was the worst every year, was actually a happy one. For once, no one was chasing him, no one was throwing things at him. It all just felt so…right.

The women wrapped their arms around the boy and smiled gently. His head now came up to their chests and they were proud as to the kind of boy he was becoming.

"Blow out the candles and make a wish Naruto! I hope you like it…"

Anko said, her eyes full of hope. He smiled and blew the candles out. Closing his eyes and making his wish, he surprised Katsumi with it.

_No matter what, I don't want them to leave me. I want them to be safe. So I wish I was the best ninja that I could be, just to keep them safe and happy._

As he was about to blow out the candles, a thought raced through his head.

_Oh! And someday, I wish that I'll be able to meet Katsumi to thank her for everything she has done. I hope she never leaves me either._

With that, he blew out the candles in one breath, earning a few claps from the two women in front of him.

Katsumi was frozen in shock as she heard the second wish Naruto wanted.

_**H-he wants to thank me? For what…His life used to be so horrible because I'm inside of him…**_

As if sensing her sadness, Naruto began to focus his chakra softly, allowing it to wash over the woman in his head. She gasped as she felt the calming sensation enter her "body". She felt as Naruto was forgiving her, but that was impossible, he didn't even know she did anything wrong.

_Please don't be sad Katsumi…I don't like it when you're sad._

_**H-how is he doing this to me? He shouldn't be able to…**_

In reality, the boy had learned the secret to how she manipulated her chakra within his body, and just reversed the process. Needless to say, he was pleased by the results ashe could sense the sadness leave Katsumi slowly.

This interaction between the two of them lasted a few seconds.

Opening his eyes, Naruto saw that Kurenai had turned on the light and Anko was cutting the cake. He took a bite and nearly moaned as it was so good. His first taste of cake and it was made by someone that was precious to him. He savored every bite and saw Anko smile even more proudly while cleaning the flour off of her face and coat.

He looked over at Kurenai and saw that she was looking over at Anko with questioning eyes, he saw Anko nod and Kurenai smiled nervously.

"We got you something else Naruto…" He dropped his fork and waved his hands in front of him

"No, no, you gave me more than anyone has! You don't need to give me anything else, really!"

Shaking her head, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a little bright red box the size of her palm. Biting her bottom lip cutely, she held it out nervously. As she placed it into his hand, he held it as if it were glass.

"It's from both of us Naruto." Anko said smiling, Kurenai nodded.

He looked down at the box and, with a shaking hand, opened it slowly. There, he found a small silver fox looking at him. The fur was engraved onto the silver by little wavy lines, its tail wound around itself, in its eyes were two small red stones and they twinkled brightly, as if they were staring at him.

Inside each of these stones, he could see one small letter in each. On the right, there was a K, and on the left, there was an A.

Turning it over, what he saw finally made him break down and begin to weep tears of joy. Placing it onto the table with the back still facing upwards, he launched himself at the two women, wrapping his arms around them as tightly as he could.

"Thank you…you have no idea what you've done. I love you both so much." He said, his head buried into their shoulders.

The women gasped quietly and looked at each other as the little boy in their arms cried. They smiled and both leaned down to kiss the top of his head lightly.

"We love you too Naruto." Kurenai said gently.

Anko rubbed his back slowly.

"More than you'll ever know." She said quietly into his ear.

Turning his head he looked at what had been engraved onto the back of the fox necklace.

_No matter where you go, no matter what you do, we'll always love you. – Signed Anko and Kurenai._

**End Flashback**

His fingers moved slowly over the fox's fur and eyes, and he couldn't help but smile. In one day, it seemed as if his entire life had done a complete 180. All in one day, he had found a family, a home, and an education, what more could he ask for? Well he didn't need to ask for anything, even when he went out he got less glares and death threats, due to the fact that one Anko Mitarashi had warned everyone in a five block radius that if they so much as looked at him funny she would pay them a visit. Life was amazing now.

Dropping to the floor he began to do push ups, naming the different Hokage's in his head and what they had done for Konoha. He did this quite often when he woke, basically cutting his training time in two, allowing him to fit in even more training if he wanted, and, knowing Anko, she would have him sweating by the days end.

It had been three years since he had met the two women, making Naruto now ten, and already his ninja training was paying off. What he lacked in chakra control, he more than made up for in sheer speed and stamina, even managing to evade both Anko and Kurenai during a training session based on tag. His ninjutsu was also coming along, as he found that he was doing better than most kids his age.

Already he could form up to a C ranked jutsu without getting weakened and he was very proud of himself. He had four wind, two water, three fire, and two earth jutsus under his belt, he could not find anyone to teach him lightning, however, and that disappointed him.

Grunting, he stood up and began doing stretches, moving his body side to side and then tilting his upper body left to right. A laugh from the doorway stole his attention.

"Very good Naruto-kun, up and early. Ninjas don't need to sleep in."

Anko stood there smiling, she pointed her finger towards the floor.

"However, they do need to eat, how would you like to try something new? It's near my dango stand so I figured that we could stop by."

Naruto stopped stretching and nodded. If worst came to worst and he didn't like the new meal, he would just eat the dango before training as he didn't really mind the taste. He watched as Anko walked over to his window and opened it, climbing onto the windowsill. She looked back at him and smiled, waving for his hand to follow. As she jumped out of the window, Naruto sighed to himself.

"You know…I actually like the stairs." But, knowing it was to train his body to get used to impacts, he went to the window and jumped, landing easily onto the ground from the second story window.

"Maybe we should go from the roof next time hm Naruto? That seems too easy for you now and it isn't as fun when you aren't scared." Anko smiled jokingly as she remembered how much he had panicked the first time she jumped from the window.

"Alright Anko, we'll do that…if you can catch me!" Suddenly Anko's body disappeared, appearing behind Naruto with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Don't be so confident…" Her hand went to reach out to touch him, just before her fingertips touched his shirt he disappeared from sight, appearing again on a tree branch, arms crossed in front of him.

"Hah, you've been practicing haven't you gaki?" She smiled, looking up at him, placing hands on her hips.

"You can say that." A whisper came from right next to her ear.

She stiffened and looked behind her, seeing the blonde boy there instead of on the branch.

_I-I didn't even see him move!_

"G-good gaki, that means we can up the training, after food of course."

"Sounds good to me Anko-sensei." He smiled as he disappeared from sight again, only to appear on the roof of the house.

"Roof hop over there?"

Anko shook her head and marveled at the boy's progress. Instantly she was on the same roof next to the boy.

A few hops later, they decided to land in an alley, as they didn't want to jump into a crowded street.

The two walked out of the alley and Naruto looked at the villagers. A few brave souls actually decided to send him a scowl, but that was fine by him, it didn't matter anymore, not when he actually had people loving him. Arriving at their destination, Anko held out her hand.

"After you."

As he walked inside, Naruto felt as if he were at home, it was a very nice atmosphere, even if it was a little small.

"Good morning sir! Welcome to Ichiraku's Ramen stand. Can I take your order?"

_Ramen? Isn't it a little warm for that?_ He looked at the man questioningly and froze. The man was actually smiling at him. Shaking his head as if in a daze, he begun to look at the menu.

"Um, I guess I'll have beef ramen please. Sorry for asking, are you new to town?"

After taking his order, the man smiled wider and shook his head. "Nope, lived here since I was a boy." Naruto nodded at this and was about to ask a question. "If you're wondering why I'm not scowling at you, it isn't because that woman has been staring at me giving me the evil eye." He said, indicating Anko who blushed and bowed.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly.

"Quite alright. I'm not scowling, because of the simple fact that I have no reason to scowl now do I?" The same smile never leaving his face.

Naruto smiled at this, he liked this old man.

"Now, sit and I'll be back with your food." He said, pointing to an empty seat with his fan.

The two sat down and began chatting about the days lessons, which would include laps, attack and defense, and evading/ambushing. As they were talking, a girl about the age of fifteen placed a large bowl of soup in front of the blonde boy.

"Here you go sir." _Wow…he's cute! _She thought, looking at his tight dark red, almost blackish shirt, her eyes moving to his necklace and then to his blonde hair. She noticed the whisker marks and that made her think he was all the cuter.

Now even though Naruto was only ten, due to a growth spurt, he was now up to Anko's shoulder, and thanks to his ninja training, his muscles were big, yet lean, making him fill out his shirt nicely. His stomach was flat and his chest wide and strong looking. All in all, he looked as if he were 13 to 14 years old in the eyes of the girl behind the counter.

Naruto bowed his head in thanks and paid the girl after she gave him a white soup spoon.

"Thank you very much miss, this is my first bowl of ramen!""

At this, the old man came to the counter, and handed the money back to Naruto.

"It is? Well we can't have you pay for it unless you like it sir." He said, smiling down at the boy, making him smile as well.

Naruto dipped the spoon into the broth and brought it to his lips. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue he froze, staring off into space.

All three people stared at the boy as he entered his trancelike state, his eyes staring at nothing.

"Naruto?" Anko said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?..."

No response.

Anko gently nudged the boy and nearly jumped out of her skin when he let out a yell.

"OH MY GOD!" The boy yelled and began devouring the food as if he needed it to live, his spoon moving so quickly, it was a white blur between him and the bowl. After the broth was gone, he took his chopsticks and slurped up every noodle he could grab. The time he took to eat everything? Thirty seconds.

There was a silence, the only sounds came from outside the shop from the village. The three people stared at the empty bowl and then back at the boy as if he had grown a second head. The old man started to laugh heartily as he could tell the poor boy wanted to lick his bowl clean.

"I take it you like it then?" The boy nodded quickly and handed over five times the amount of money he was going to give the old man before.

"Four more bowls please."

The old man's jaw dropped as he heard this, but quickly closed.

"Coming right up! By the way son, what is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." The boy stood, bowing to the man and then to the girl, making her blush.

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun" The man shook his hand. "My name is Teuchi, this is my daughter Ayame." He said, indicating the girl next to him.

"It is very nice to meet you! Thank you for showing me the wonderful world of ramen."

At this all four people laughed.

After their lunch, Naruto and Anko left the village to train outside in the forest, as it was dense and would teach Naruto how to use his surroundings.

"Alright Naruto-kun, how is your control coming along? Has Kurenai-chan been teaching you any new exercises?"

A nod came from the boy. "She's trying to teach me how to walk on water, I've got walking on trees down, but water is a different story. It's really hard to focus that much on a moving surface."

Anko nodded in understanding. "Well, just do your best and I'm sure you'll get it in no time. Now, on to today's lesson. You're to do laps and then we'll work on a few jutsu after that, we'll go over some hand to hand fighting, to end the day, I'll teach you how to lay down traps and set an ambush, sound good?"

"Yep let's get started!"

-== Later ==-

Both ninja were breathing heavily as they faced each other. Anko was very impressed on how the boy was progressing, he had even been able to lay a few blows on her, such a thing was not easy to do against an Anbu trained operative.

Even though he was able to hit her, he paid the price as his body was littered with bruises, cuts, and scrapes, he didn't mind however, as he knew he would heal quickly.

"**Oh sure Naruto, make me heal you all the time."**

_Ahehe, sorry Katsumi, I appreciate it you know._

"**You better Kit."**

"Alright, hand to hand is over. I'm proud of you Naruto, you actually have me breathing hard, I guess I'll have to step it up a notch next time."

Nodding, the boy smiled as the cuts and scrapes he received disappeared. "Same goes for me."

"Good, now let's get cleaned up."

After both felt they were clean and rested enough, Anko stood at the tree line. She went over the different ways to set traps, ranging from using kunai launchers, to leading an enemy into your team waiting in ambush, to setting up paper bombs. The latter caught Naruto's attention and he asked her to go into detail.

"Well, you want to angle the explosions in such a way to ensure maximum damage to your enemy. If it's a group, you can add kunai to the seal of the tag, effectively making it a shrapnel bomb. For a lone enemy, small explosions will do, as you want to injure him or her, while still having the advantages of keeping him or her alive to be interrogated"

Nodding, the boy wrote what he could down in a tiny notebook he kept in one of his pants pockets. After she was done explaining, she let him run into the forest with paint bombs, telling him to set them up to ambush her.

He ran into the forest and set them up, making it so if she walked into the paper bombs, the explosions would send her a certain way. He added a delay to another set of explosives, so when the first set went off and she moved to escape, the second set would send her straight at him, allowing a kill shot. After he was done he sat in a bush and waited.

It was then that he heard a snap and a whine. Standing up he looked around, looking for the source of the sound. Hearing nothing, he sat back down to wait.

Less than a minute later he began to hear small whines, sounds that a dog would make if it were scolded or threatened, with these whines he heard quiet metallic rattling.

Deciding to investigate, Naruto searched the brush. What he found hurt him dearly, he had walked up on an animal in a hunter's trap, no doubt they set it for animal pelts. In it was a large fox the size of a medium dog, its neck was caught in the trap. Judging by the angle of its head, Naruto knew that it was dead.

The rattling and whining, and the cause of Naruto's emotional pain, came from a little fox pup, nudging the trap with its nose, making the bigger fox's lifeless body move slightly back and forth, only to return to its original position.

Katsumi was outraged, one of her own had been killed, just for its pelt! **_If I could get out of here I would find the hunter that did this and make him pay! _**She didn't say anything to the boy, however, as she saw how he was acting, and could feel what he felt.

Heartbroken, he walked up slowly to the dead fox and its offspring. The little fox jumped in front of its parent and growled at Naruto, baring its tiny fangs. Naruto would have thought this was cute in a different situation. Raising his hands slightly, he tried to calm the young pup. Looking at it, he found that it couldn't have been more than two months old, as it was barely big enough to fit in his palm.

"Shh, I'm not the one that set it, I'm trying to help…I'm sorry…but she's dead. I wanted to bury her if you don't mind…"

The young kit suddenly sat up and stopped growling, it cocked its head to the side and stared at the boy. He stepped closer, expecting the fox to attack him, it didn't however, in fact, it moved aside as if it understood him.

Searching his pockets to find something to dig with, he found that he had nothing, and so, sighing, he walked over to the trap and opened it slowly. He moved the fox out of the trap gently, under the supervision of the young one sitting near the bushes, and moved to a patch of dirt.

Slowly he began to dig using just his fingers. Even though the dirt was packed he couldn't let the dead fox stay there like this so he continued to dig, his fingers aching from scratching the earth.

Eventually, he made the hole wide enough to fit the fox, while deep enough that an animal wouldn't dig up the body, he gently placed the fox into the hole and covered it up. He moved his hands in front of him and clapped them together and said a small prayer over the grave. After he was done he looked down and saw that his fingertips were bleeding. Sighing he stood up and cleaned them on his pants, glad that they were black. He looked over to the small fox and smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't give her a proper burial, but I did the best that I could. I hope that you'll be ok kit." He smiled inwardly to himself at the change of events, usually he was the one that was called kit.

He turned and slowly walked back to the woods, he was stopped though, when he felt the light tugging on his pant leg. Looking down, he saw the little fox with his pant leg in its mouth, looking up at him sadly, whining quietly. Not thinking, he reached down and held out his hand, instantly the fox jumped on it and ran up his arm, stopping to sit on his shoulder. It licked his cheek happily as if in thanks.

He laughed quietly as he let it lick him. "You're quite welcome. I couldn't just leave her like that could I?" The little fox barked quietly and licked him again. "Ok, ok, you're welcome, but I think you should go, you don't want to go with me, people don't like me very much, and they especially don't like foxes."

He placed the little fox on the ground, only to have it scurry back up and climb into one of his pockets, its head sticking out, along with its paws. It barked happily.

"**She wants to go with you Naruto-kun, she wants to thank you for helping her mother find peace and would like to repay you by being your companion."** Katsumi said quietly.

Naruto looked down at the small fox in his pocket and smiled. "I don't have a choice here do I?" As if answering, the fox barked again.

_Let me guess, she said no._

"**That's exactly right Naruto-kun."**

_How is it you can understand her Katsumi?_

The fox smiled to itself. **"Fox, remember?"**

**_Riiiiiiight_**

Sighing quietly, he gave up and smiled, petting the small pup on its head.

"Well, my name is Naruto. What's yours?" He was answered by a bark. "Hehe that's a very nice name."

"**Haha, she says she doesn't have a name Kit. Her mother used to just call her kit or pup."**

Naruto stared down at the little fox in his pocket and pondered. He pulled the fox out of his pants and held it in front of him, giggling as her little tail began to sway back and forth. Looking in its eyes, he noticed that they were as red as Kurenai's were, he gasped as he saw that her fur was indeed silver, not grey, but a dull silver, her hairs shining slightly.

He looked as his necklace and smiled widely, a perfect match. He petted her head again, making it bark quietly and then suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"I know what I'll call you. How do you like Naomi, as in, above all beauty?" The fox sat there in his palm and barked happily, its little tail wagging back and forth quickly. It scurried up Naruto's shirt and began licking him again.

_I take it she likes the name? _

The fox laughed at this, **"Yes Naruto-kun, she loves her new name and says thank you."**

Naruto smiled and looked at the sky. "Wow, it's getting dark, I didn't know how long I was digging. I guess we should get going, what do you say Naomi?" His reply was a bark as the little fox yipped and climbed down his body with ease, putting itself back into his pocket, its head pocking out.

On his way back to his original spot, Naomi barked quietly and sniffed the air. "What is it?"

He waited a few seconds.

"Naruto! Where are you?" Anko's voice went throughout the forest, followed by the sound of explosions and her screams.

_Oh no…there's one…_

*_BOOM*_ "Ah! NARUTO I'LL KILL YOU!"

_There is the second one…_

As expected, Anko landed right in front of him, her back turned towards him. Unable to help it, he pulled a pain covered kunai from his pocket and threw it at the woman, nailing her squarely in the back of the neck, a definite kill shot.

"Heh, I win Anko-sensei!"

Scowling, the woman turned and rubbed the back of her neck where the wooden kunai had struck her.

"Where were you? I was worried sick!" She looked down at the boy and saw the sad look on his face, her eyes darted to the bulge in his pocket and saw the little fox head. "Who is this?"

Gently, Naruto took Naomi from his pocket and held her to his chest, her head burying itself in his shoulder. "This is Naomi-chan Anko…I found her mother in a trap…" His eyes fell to the ground.

Anko gasped quietly when he said this and then suddenly took his hand in hers. "You're bleeding! What happened? Did it bite you?"

"No, it was dead… I buried it."

Her eyes dropped at this and rubbed the boy's hand gently, "I'm sorry…why didn't you come get me? We could have gotten a shovel to dig."

"I didn't want to leave this little pup there all alone, so I decided to dig her grave there. Don't worry, I'll heal in no time, you know this."

"That's beside the point! I was worried sick, and why is she with you? Usually a fox would run into the forest after being seen by a human." Anko said, scratching the little fox behind the ear, making it tilt its head to allow her more access.

"She wouldn't leave me alone after I buried her mother. She literally climbed into my pants haha."

Anko, unable to help herself, blushed and smiled.

"Aw, my little Naruto-kun is growing up, letting vixens climb into his pants."

The boy's face instantly turned redder than Naomi's eyes, a small trickle of blood coming from his nose.

"N-not funny Anko."

"Hehe, come on, let's get home. We have some explaining to do to Kurenai."

-== Back At the House ==-

As soon as she had opened the door for Naruto and Anko she saw the small fox on Naruto's shoulder, Kurenai had stars in her eyes and screamed.

"KAWAII!" And snatched the little fox from his shoulder, holding it gently and snuggling with it softly as she would a stuffed animal. She giggled quietly as the fox showed its appreciation for being called cute, by licking her lightly.

After he and Anko explained why they were late, she handed Naruto back the little fox and smiled.

"Of course she can stay, but you know you will have to take care of her Naruto."

He nodded and took her upstairs quickly. Placing her on the floor, and he let her explore his room. He watched as she sniffed and searched every crevice of the room. Using some old shirts, Naruto made a makeshift bed in the corner of his room and laughed as he saw her instantly jump into it, cuddling up with the shirts that still smelled of him.

Watching as she played with the shirts, he couldn't help but smile even more at the little fox. It scurried throughout the clothing, only to pop its head up out of nowhere, a small sock hanging over its face.

Shaking his head at its cuteness, Naruto yawned quietly and stretched from his long day. He went over to his bed and got undressed and, getting under the covers, he looked over at Naomi and smiled.

"Good night Naomi-chan. Welcome home." He got a bark as his reply. Reaching over to his lamp, he turned it off and closed his eyes.

-== With Anko And Kurenai ==-

"Do you think that would work Anko?" Kurenai asked as she sipped her tea.

"Why not, the Inuzukas do it with dogs. Why not use the same principal with Naruto and Naomi-chan? I think it would work."

Kurenai held her chin in her hands and thought carefully. She had no idea how to train an animal, and neither did Anko. There was also one small matter.

"We'll have to ask Naruto-kun. If he wants to train her, he'll have to do it, to create a bond between them."

"Kurenai-chan, this may be hard to believe, but I believe there is already a bond between them. One probably just as strong as ours is to him. You've seen how she acts around him."

Kurenai smiled at this and nodded slowly remembering how Naomi had jumped from her hand to get back to Naruto, "You may be right Anko, you may be right."

-== Later That Night ==-

Naruto woke up to quiet whining coming from his corner. Looking over to it, he saw Naomi curled in a ball, her head on her tail, her eyes were drawn to the window as they stared into the moon.

He knew how she felt. The feeling of loneliness was nothing new to him. Standing up from his bed, he walked slowly over to her.

She lifted her head when she heard him and whined a little louder. Walking over to him slowly, she didn't wait for permission as she jumped into his arms, her head burying itself into his chest as her body shivered as if she were crying.

He looked down at the small pup in his hands and felt his heart break even more.

_Was this how I was when Kurenai-chan found me?..._

His fingers moved through her fur slowly as he tried to calm the little fox down. Moving over to his bed, he cradled her in his arms and allowed his breathing to slow.

He watched as her shivering began to cease as his fingers began to move along her fur even more gently than before.

Quietly, he began to hum. He had no idea where the song had come from, but he felt it was the right thing to do as he continued to try to comfort the little ball of fur in his hands.

Katsumi wiped away her tears as she too began to hum along with Naruto. The same song she had been humming to him for years while he slept.

-== Three Months Later ==-

Naruto, Anko, and Kurenai stood in a small clearing in the forest surrounding Konoha. Ever since that day, Naomi had refused to leave Naruto's side. Now she sat on his shoulder sniffing the air quietly while she looked at Kurenai, and waited patiently.

"Begin." Kurenai said, pointing to a tree.

Instantly, Naomi jumped off of Naruto's shoulder, running towards the tree, followed by the blonde. As she got there, she ran up the tree with ease, waiting at the top for her master.

Naruto looked at the tree and ran up it quickly, using only his feet, as he neared the top, he back flipped off, landing on the ground with a quiet thud. He outstretched his hand and smiled as Naomi jumped off the branch and onto his hand, running up to sit on her perch.

"Very good Naruto-kun, Naomi-chan. Tree walking exercise, check." Kurenai said as mentally checked off a checklist.

"Next." Anko stated as she pointed to the small pond in the middle of the clearing. In the middle of the pond stood a lone wooden log pointing straight up. On it was a small pouch.

Again, the little fox jumped off of Naruto's shoulder, running along the ground until it got to the water. Without stopping it continued to run, running over the water's surface and scurrying up the log, waiting.

"Show off." Naruto said as he too began to run towards the water. Taking a deep breath he ran faster towards the water, his hands and arms swinging loosely behind his back as he ran.

As his foot touched the surface of the water, he found that it felt no different than if he was running on land. Grinning at his victory, he ran across the water, earning a bark of approval from Naomi as he ran up to the log.

Grabbing the pouch and the fox, Naruto ran back towards land, tying the pouch to his waist behind his back. He stopped in front of the two women, beaming with pride.

"Very good!" Kurenai hugged Naruto in congratulations, only for the woman to burst into leaves. The leaves began to circle Naruto slowly, trying to confuse him.

Instantly, Naomi barked and Naruto nodded in agreement. Long ago he had found that the traditional way of releasing a genjutsu was very unconventional for him. Concentrating, he focused his chakra to form a very thin line around his entire body.

He allowed it to condense for a moment, before releasing his technique. The result was a wave of chakra pulsing throughout the entire clearing. This forced Kurenai to fly back slightly, and land on her butt, making a very cute "hmph"ing noise.

Standing up and rubbing her posterior gently, she turned towards Anko.

"Your turn. He did all the chakra exercises I taught him. Let's see what you taught him Anko."

Nodding, Anko made Naruto walk to the middle of the clearing, his back facing the water. Both Anko and Kurenai jumped, landing in a tree high above the scene.

"Begin." the purple haired ninja said and placed her hand on the seal she had placed on the tree.

Instantly, wooden dummies began popping up from the ground. Naruto reached behind him and began throwing kunai at each appearing target, hitting each in the head, only to see the kunai fall back to the earth.

_Stupid fake kunai. _He said as he grabbed more, waiting for more targets.

"**Focus Kit." **

_I know Katsumi, I know._

His thoughts were broken, however, as Naomi barked loudly, looking to the right. Sure enough, three figures popped up at once, and reaching behind him again, Naruto pulled out three kunai, throwing them at the same time, hitting each dummy in the chest, missing the bull's eye.

Again Naomi barked, this time to the left. Now there were five figures, each moving towards Naruto on strings. Reaching into his left pocket, he pulled out and threw ten shuriken, all in one fluid motion, each hitting the dummy twice, again missing the bull's eye.

With his hand still outstretched, he waited. Nothing. Standing up straight, he scanned his surroundings. Sure enough, Naomi barked again as about 20 stone dummies shot up from the ground to surround him. Judging that these were carefully hidden, he decided that these were an earth style jutsu.

_Two can play at that game Anko-sensei._

Naruto crouched low and performed 5 handsigns in rapid succession. With the last handsign, he began to spin slowly, focusing his chakra into the tips of his fingers.

"Wind style: Bladed Hurricane!" As he spun, the wind around him picked up speed, picking up dirt and dust and small blades of grass. Slowly, a small tornado surrounded the boy and his companion. The force of the wind caused both women to focus their chakra into their feet to stick to the tree, lest they be blown away.

Instantly the wind stopped as Naruto straightened up again and closed his eyes. It seemed as if he didn't do anything.

Suddenly all the stone figures broke, showing that they were cut cleanly through at least five times, cutting them to pieces.

His eyes snapped open and he pulled out two wooden kunai from his pouch, taking a defensive position. As he predicted, the purple haired kunoichi landed a few feet in front of him, a kunai in each of her hands. His body tensed as he saw her faze out of existence, only to reappear at his left, swinging her kunai towards his neck.

Suddenly, his body bent over backwards to show off an extreme amount of flexibility, his head nearly touching the ground. Naomi jumped off his shoulder nimbly and ran a few feet away. He watched as Anko's arm moved over his body harmlessly before he initiated his attack.

As he brought his arms up towards hers, he dropped the kunai he had been holding. As he had planned, Naomi jumped from her vantage point, and caught the separate kunai with her mouth and tail, allowing Naruto free use of his hands.

Quickly, and with deadly precision, Naruto struck Anko's elbow joint with two fingers, causing her to drop her own kunai. His body was still bent backwards as this encounter had lasted a total of two seconds.

Grunting in pain, Anko back flipped away, knowing instantly that her left lower arm was no longer useful.

_Damn…Maybe I shouldn't have taught him pressure points ne? Hyuuga eat your heart out._

She brought her right hand up and quickly struck a group of pressure points along her bicep, allowing her lower arm to be felt once more. She smirked victoriously as she flexed and moved her fingers.

Naruto scowled as he watched this.

_Of course she would fix it..._

Sighing to himself he started to race towards the woman, leaving Naomi behind. Without looking back, he allowed his arms to trail behind him (**A/N: Think of the anime where they are running with their arms behind them through the trees.)**

"Naomi!" His reply was a bark and two kunai that were thrown from behind him.

Kurenai was awestruck as she watched two blonde and her friend fight. The amount of speed Naruto had was insane. She watched as he caught the two kunai thrown to him by Naomi and that alone surprised her.

_She can throw ninja weapons using her tail and mouth? What have you been teaching her Naruto…_

Her eyes darted back to the boy as he started attacking her friend. Kurenai's eyes widened even more as she saw the amount of accuracy the blonde was showing as he struck out at Anko.

Anko was beyond pissed. Not only had the young blonde neutralized her arm earlier, he was now attacking her like crazy. His movements seemed to have no purpose at all, but when she went to block them, she found that they could always get around her defenses.

Every time she blocked one arm because she predicted where it would go, she got struck by the other. That wasn't what pissed her off however. No.

What made her anger were the boy's eyes. They were…playful? She couldn't place her finger on it, but she could tell he was enjoying himself. Shit, she wasn't even sure he was trying.

Suddenly, the blonde winked at the woman he was fighting and vanished from sight.

"Shit! Where the hell did he-"

"Go?" The blonde in question said triumphantly as he stood behind her.

Kurenai allowed her jaw to drop. There was Naruto, standing behind Anko. His kunai was poised at the base of her skull, the point towards the sky. Both Kurenai and Anko knew that he could have killed her, even with a blunted kunai. All he had to do was push it into her brain or spinal cord.

"I win Anko-sensei." The boy smiled and kissed her cheek quickly, earning a small blush from the purple haired woman.

She tried to kick him but swore when he back flipped away. Kurenai landed next to Anko and smiled at her friend.

"Looks like we both lost eh Ko-chan? Ninjutsu, taijutsu, and target acquisition, check."

Suddenly, both women vanished from sight, causing Naruto to tense his entire body. Focusing his chakra into his eyes, ears, and nose, he tried to pinpoint their exact location. Eyes widening, he focused on the treeline.

"There!" He called out and threw two kunai towards a bush. He smiled when he heard two telltale sounds coming from it, indicating that they were blocked.

From the bush, jumped a very surprised Kurenai. Not only had she used a camouflage jutsu, but she also used one of her special genjutsu that interrupted one's senses. Not wanting to be made a fool of, she threw three kunai towards Naruto, expecting him to jump away.

He didn't.

Staying where he was, he allowed the kunai to come towards him. Fast as a snake, his hand darted to each kunai as it came close. When he was done, he held up his hand, showing that he had caught each one, a finger was through each hole.

"That wasn't very nice Kurenai-sensei…" He smiled and suddenly tilted his head to the side, dodging a pair of kunai that had been thrown by Anko.

Noticing that they were being made fun of, the women decided to take it up a notch.

Both women landed gracefully in front of Naruto with crossed their arms in front of them. Snapping their arms straight at the boy, waves of shuriken were thrown, at least 20 from each woman.

Smiling again, the boy allowed his body to become as loose as he could make it. When the first wave of shuriken made it to him, he began to duck and weave quickly, making each one miss.

Kurenai and Anko stood transfixed while they watched the boy move. It looked as if he were dancing between the stars, moving as if he were the wind itself.

_He's fast! His eye sight is superb. _Anko thought as she began throwing a star one at a time with each hand, still throwing them quickly but not wanting to throw too many.

_It's as if Naomi's eyes are his own. _Thought Kurenai, as she too threw stars. She saw the small fox looking one way while Naruto looked her way.

Suddenly, both women called out in unison, "Ninja art, Shadow Shuriken!"

Instantly, the waves of stars thrown at the boy tripled in midair. Naruto knew that he couldn't dodge them all, even if he jumped to the side. He ground his teeth and brought up two kunai in front of him.

Again, both women were awestruck as they watched the boy move his arms at lightning speeds. As he parried each star thrown, the clearing soon became covered in smoke, since some stars were getting dispelled.

Soon, the women couldn't see Naruto any longer, but they could still hear the thumps of his kunai against the stars, and the poofs of the stars.

Finally, the sounds stopped echoing throughout the clearing and the smoke began to clear.

Surrounding Naruto was a sea of black as each star that he hit was now stuck into the ground. He stood there and twirled his kunai in his hands, placing them back into the seal that was in his pouch. Naruto was good, but even _he_ couldn't stop every star from hitting him. A small bead of sweat fell down his cheek and dripped onto the ground.

The women could see that he had been struck in the arms and legs, but they knew that none of the hits were fatal or would reduce his mobility.

Anko and Kurenai sighed in defeat and stood up straight.

"Very good Naruto! Except, you missed the bull's eye on every target after you hit those others in the head. Also, you got hit by a few of our stars." Yelled Kurenai from across the clearing, her breathing going to normal.

"Anko, take a look at the dents, I don't think I missed. And as to being hit Kurenai-sensei…Why don't YOU try to deflect that many!"

Anko went to inspect the dents made by Naruto's wooden kunai and gasped. He may have missed the bull's eye, but every dent was where a vital organ would be, and each dent was in a different spot, even though he through them all at the same time.

"He's right Kurenai, each shot is a kill shot…"

The other woman gasped at this. _How does he know so much about the body?_

"Why did you hit these vital spots on the separate dummies but on the dummies that came up one at a time, you hit their head?"

Naruto grinned impishly, "What, Naomi is the only one that is allowed to show off?"

Both women face palmed at this.

"Clean this all up Naruto." They said in unison and began to walk away.

"Awwwwww!" The poor boy said in sadness. Naomi jumped from his shoulder and began picking up the kunai with her mouth, as the stars would be more difficult, she walked over to Naruto and placed them on the ground, barking happily.

He smiled at this and patted her head gently, "Thanks girl. At least someone is helping!" He yelled towards the leaving women, he dodged a pair of kunai sent his way.

"Hey you could have killed me you know!" He yelled back, shaking his fist in the air.

"Brat." Whispered Anko as they made their way back to the village.

"Agreed." Said the other woman as she walked next to her friend.

Anko sighed warily and looked at her friend.

"Although…it seems like we have created a monster…Ne Kurenai-chan?"

"…Agreed…"

* * *

**A/N: Woo...My fingers do hurt after this chapter lol. Believe it or not, i lost the chapters after chapter three. Something happened to my computer and i lost those files. So! Allllll you the chapters you will see in the future are done by memory and i will try to mix them up a little.**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Really i do. Also, if you haven't checked out my other story, i'd appreciate it if you look at it and tell me what you think.  
**

**As always, please rate and review, i love knowing what you guys think of my story!  
**

**Until then, FNG out.  
**


End file.
